GB Kite Electroliner ‘most efficient in class’: Wrightbus
Certification of the GB Kite Electroliner as a ZEB has been undertaken by Zemo Partnership at UTAC Millbrook in a process that is key to claiming national and devolved government funding towards zero-emission buses.
Two certificates have been posted on Zemo’s website confirming energy efficiency. With 340kW/h of battery storage, the GB Kite Electroliner returned an average of 0.66kW/h per km across the test. In 567kW/h form, that figure was 0.67kW/h per km. Well-to-wheel greenhouse gas savings over a comparable Euro VI diesel are 86% and 83%, respectively.
Wrightbus says that such returns are significantly lower than comparable rival models. The figures follow certification of the StreetDeck Electroliner via the ZEB scheme. With 340kW/h of storage, the battery-electric double-decker’s average consumption across the testing was 0.68kW/h per km. With 454kW/h of installed power it was 0.75kW/h per km.
The first production Wrightbus GB Kite Electroliner models to enter service did so recently with First Leicester. They are part of two large orders for Wrightbus battery-electrics from First Bus that are supported by various successful Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas bids in England.
Speaking about the results from Zemo’s ZEB certification process, recently-installed Wrightbus Chief Executive Jean-Marc Gales says: “We are rightly proud that our StreetDeck Electroliner is recognised as the world’s most efficient electric double-deck bus, and we have taken that technology into the development of our single-decks.
“The GB Kite, which we unveiled at the end of 2021, shares 85% of the components and technology that make up the StreetDeck, and the rationale behind this is borne out by the impressive results from UTAC.
