Equipmake opens electric bus factory in Norfolk
The British electrification company Equipmake has officially opened a new factory in Snetterton, Norfolk, to construct vehicle chassis for their EBus. A workforce of 52 people will be working on the electric bus kit.
What sets the company apart from their competition, is that while they do not directly manufacture electric buses, they will deliver a “fully integrated, cost-effective electric chassis”, which would allow manufacturers “with no electric vehicle knowledge to become electric bus manufacturers.” So far they number customers from Brazil to India, working together with local bus companies.
The EBus chassis development programme was funded with £7.5 million from the Advanced Propulsion Centre, and has entered the final testing phase for a single-decker electric bus platform, which is planned to be completed at the end of the year. In-service trials are then set to launch in Q1 of 2020 with a Brazilian bus manufacturer Agrale, who plans to launch them in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires.
Ian Foley, managing director for Equipmake opened the new production facility with a statement praising local production, but added that the company plans to grow significantly as they ramp up production: “Manufacture of the powertrain will scale dramatically over the next few years and our target is 700 EBus chassis for South America alone in the first year of production. That is why our new bespoke facility here in Snetterton is so important – it is crucial to fulfilling requirements from international customers for both single and double decker applications.”
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