National Express is trialling a first battery-electric bus on its Stansted Airport car park shuttle work in the form of a Mercedes-Benz eCitaro demonstrator provided by Daimler Buses UK.
The evaluation will last for a month and see the light blue vehicle temporarily displace a diesel Citaro. That existing bus covers 180 miles per day on average, providing what the operator says is “a real-world test of the eCitaro’s ability to meet the demands of a high-mileage, high-frequency airport shuttle bus while supporting Stansted Airport’s sustainability goals.”
Electricity for the eCitaro will be from renewable sources at Stansted. The trial will assess the bus’s operational performance in real-time, including energy consumption, charging requirements, and reliability and availability. Passenger feedback will also be considered.
Results from that process will be analysed by National Express and Stansted Airport, with the findings used to help inform their joint approach to the future deployment of battery-electric vehicles across the node’s transport operations. The eCitaro has already found an airport use in the UK at Bristol Airport.
Speaking about the exercise, National Express Managing Director Rafael Fernandez says: “We are committed to exploring more sustainable ways of delivering passenger transport for our airport partners, and this trial is an important step in understanding where battery-electric technology can work effectively on a high-demand service pattern.
“Over the course of the trial, we will be looking closely at the vehicle’s performance, energy use and charging requirements, alongside feedback from passengers and our operational teams. The findings will help us to understand the practical considerations for introducing battery-electric vehicles in this particular operating environment.”
London Stansted Airport Operations Director Nick Millar adds that it is pleased to support the eCitaro trial with National Express.
“The long-stay shuttle service is an ideal route to test the operational requirements of electric vehicles, and the insights gained will help to inform future decisions as we continue working towards our net-zero carbon ambitious,” says Mr Millar.
