The London transport company Go-Ahead has ordered 20 electric buses and charging infrastructure from the Spanish manufacturer Irizar. The order includes 20 examples of the Irizar ie tram 12-metre electric bus with right-hand drive, as well as two 450 kW pantograph chargers and 100 kW depot chargers.
This is the first time Irizar has won an order for the ie tram in the tram design in the right-hand drive version. These will also be the first Irizar buses for customer Go-Ahead: The operator has so far primarily relied on electric buses from BYD-ADL, and hydrogen fuel cell electric buses from Wrightbus.
The charging technology is supplied by Jema Energy, a subsidiary of the Irizar Group. The electric buses are due to start arriving in London from the end of 2022 onwards and will run on route 358 between Crystal Palace and Orpington. The 450kW pantograph charging systems are to be installed at Crystal Palace and Orpington Bus Stations. Irizar explains that these enable the buses to charge in less than five minutes en route. Once the buses have returned to the depot they can be charged using the depot-based chargers.