First Bus is set to build a new EV charging hub at its depot on the A30 in Cornwall – making more van-suitable chargers available on the strategic road network in the South West.
The site will include eight pay-as-you-go 75kWh rapid DC chargers, provided and installed by Heliox UK, which can fully charge a van in under 30 minutes.
It is expected to be fully operational and open to the public later this summer, however, power is already partially provided to the site by solar panels that were installed earlier this year.
The move follows a successful pilot at the First Bus depots in Glasgow and Leicester, with companies such as DPD and Police Scotland now using the operator’s infrastructure for their EV fleets.
First Bus has submitted planning applications for another 17 locations across the UK to be fitted with charging infrastructure in preparation for a future switch to a fully zero emission bus fleet by 2035.
More than 600 of the operator’s buses, or 15% of its UK fleet, will be zero emission from March 2024.
Isabel McAllister, Chief Sustainability Officer at First Bus, said: “We’re proud to be leading the way with this industry first for consumer electric charging. We want to help the communities we serve with their own transition to zero emissions transport solutions.
“We believe this is the right thing to do. By futureproofing sites like Summercourt, we are proud to be progressing our net zero journey and investing in a greener future for our local communities.”
