McGill’s expands UK electric bus fleet with new Yutong E12s
Each of the buses carries up to 70 passengers and contains a 422 kWh battery pack, plus AC, USB charging ports and noise reduction features. They will serve several Midland Bluebird routes across the Forth Valley, as well as on the 38 Falkirk to Stirling service which McGills states will be “fully transformed” with electric vehicles. Whether this means it will be solely operated using EVs isn’t clear, but McGill’s has said it will increase frequency of the service up to every 15 minutes Monday-Saturday as a result.
The new purchase brings McGill’s total electric bus fleet up to 151 and sees a number of “significant” upgrades to a depot in Larbert sitting under the company’s Midland Bluebird transit service. While technical details haven’t been shared on these upgrades, McGill’s Group has said that charging infrastructure is being provided by the Zenobē-led ScotZEB2 consortium, which aims to build shared charging infrastructure across Scotland and also part-funded the new bus order.
125 of that 151-strong fleet of electric buses are from Yutong, which McGill’s has acquired through a series of large orders over the last few years. In May 2022, McGill’s ordered a further 41 battery-electric buses after ordering an initial 35 in 2021. Ian Downie, Head of Yutong UK, said: “McGills were the very first Scottish operator to order our electric vehicles – this order will bring their total Yutong fleet to 125 single decks in operation. We have been delighted to maintain and grow our partnership over the past few years.”
0 Comments