Following a successful joint bid by Nottingham City Transport and Nottingham City Council to the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) Fund, NCT has ordered 48 electric single deck buses and installed new charging infrastructure at its Trent Bridge Garage in the Meadows.

The total cost of the new buses and infrastructure comes to £32.2m, with £13.4m from ZEBRA and £18.8m from NCT over the lifetime of the vehicles.

Zenobē has supplied, delivered and will maintain the charging infrastructure and has integrated its charging software into NCT’s depot infrastructure to optimise charging in the most financially and operationally efficient manner. In addition to a fully managed charging service, Zenobē has also financed 24 batteries on board the vehicles, including a 16-year performance guarantee.

David Astill, NCT Managing Director said: “This is the very start of an exciting new era in the long history of NCT. We are keen to play our part as Nottingham aspires to be carbon-neutral by 2028. The delivery of our first 24 electric buses marks just the start of a programme that will see our remaining diesel powered buses leave the fleet over the next four years.” 

Steven Meersman, Co-Founder of Zenobē, said: “This is Zenobē’s first project with Nottingham City Transport, we are pleased to be on board to not only deliver the depot’s charging infrastructure but as a long-term EV fleet partner. Our fully managed charging service will allow NCT to focus on continuing to deliver outstanding service for their passengers, knowing their critical charging infrastructure will be maintained and on-board batteries will be guaranteed to meet route requirements for 16 years”.

Read the full announcement here.