One of the latest two purchased by the States started operations this week, although not without a minor problem, while the second was undergoing final preparations before welcoming passengers.
‘An additional two new electric vehicles have now joined the fleet and one went into service on Thursday,’ said a Stagecoach spokesman yesterday.
‘The upload to the destination display did not pull through but this has since been rectified and the vehicle is in service with a fully functional, working display.
‘The second new vehicle had its initial inspection today [Friday] and will be in service over the course of the coming days.’
Environment & Infrastructure has now purchased a total of four electric vehicles and handed them to Stagecoach for use on the island’s roads as part of its fleet of more than 40 buses. The total cost so far is well over £1m., with the latest additions priced at about £350,000 each.
Stagecoach said the other two were currently off the road after suffering damage in accidents.
‘The first is awaiting an insurance assessment,’ said the spokesman.
‘The second requires a piece of glass which is on order and is expected next week.’
It was recently reported that the main door on at least one electric bus had been left open to the elements for days while parked at a storage site awaiting works. Children were also reported to have been entering buses at the site, although the States said that Stagecoach was carrying out checks on the vehicles twice a day.
E&I president Deputy Adrian Gabriel has said that he expects to see a fully electrified fleet at some point but has not put a timeline on when.
Stagecoach South West's managing director, Peter Knight, said recently that electric buses were ‘much more reliable than a diesel fleet’ as they had only ‘half as many things to go wrong’, and urged passengers to give them a try.
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