Equipmake has partnered with Westway Coaches to extend its electric drive repowering programme to the coach sector.
Having already established the potential of its repowering service through the electrification of public bus fleets, Equipmake will now apply this technology to accelerate the electrification of Westway Coaches’ range of luxury coaches.
Westway Coaches is one of the only UK coach operators to run fully electric coaches. Building upon this success, its agreement with Equipmake will now see a number of its remaining diesel coaches converted to electric power using Equipmake’s drivetrain technology.
The conversion of the first vehicle, a Van Hool T917, is underway at Equipmake’s headquarters in Snetterton, Norfolk. In-service prototype testing is set to begin in Q3, and additional Westway vehicles are scheduled to be repowered over the coming months.
The electric drivetrain consists of a 545kWh battery pack, alongside an electric motor, inverter and HVAC system.
This system is expected to give the repowered Van Hool T917 a range of up to 220 miles.
Ian Foley, CEO, Equipmake, said:We are delighted to expand our repower offering to the coach market with the agreement of our first coach partnership with Westway Coaches. Westway is already a sustainability innovator in the sector and Equipmake will be accelerating its transition to zero emissions, with the first vehicle already converted and more set to be upgraded in the coming months.
Repowering is an important and cost-effective technology that bridges the gap between diesel and a new electric coach fleet. It upcycles a perfectly good vehicle in the most cost-effective way, making sense for any size of fleet, and solves the conundrum faced by operators who may only be part-way through the lifecycle of a vehicle, enabling them to transition without resorting to the financial burden of a new electric coach.
