First Fully Electric Bus Depot Opened in Essex

Essex now possesses its very first fully electric bus depot following the completion of a 30.6 million GBP project delivered by First Bus in partnership with Essex County Council.

Backed by the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA2) scheme; Cherrydown Way depot has been transformed into a fully electric hub capable of serving up to 55 buses with a fleet of new high-capacity chargers.

Isabel McAllister, Chief Sustainability Officer at First Bus, Cllr Mark Platt, Deputy Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Sustainable Transport at Essex County Council, Piers Marlow, Managing Director – Projects & Operations at First Bus, and Patrick Malone, Deputy Head of Local Passenger Transport at the Department for Transport

The site’s charging infrastructure utilises Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) electricity.

Works on the depot were supported by a 4.8 million GBP ZEBRA2 grant from the DfT, alongside a 25.8 million GBP investment from First Bus.

Simon Mathieson, Managing Director of First Bus East of England, said:
Working in close partnership with Essex County Council, we’ve delivered a once-in-a-generation investment that will make bus travel cleaner, quieter and more sustainable for years to come.

The electrification of our Basildon depot is another important step in our mission to run an entirely electric fleet by 2035.

Part of First Bus’s national decarbonisation programme; the Basildon project is one of a number of sites set to transition to the use of fully electric vehicles and associated technology.

The completion of the project was celebrated at the Depot on Thursday 20 November, with an event attended by Cllr Mark Platt, Deputy Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Sustainable Transport at Essex County Council, alongside representatives from the Department for Transport and Southend-on-Sea City Council.