Kent County Council launches seven-week electric bus trial

Kent County Council has launched its OppCharge Electric Bus Trial as part of plans to improve air quality.

The council is working with Volvo and ABB to roll out the the electric Volvo 7900e, which produces no emissions and is driven by electric motors.

It will run on the Fastrack A route between Greenhithe, Bluewater and Dartford from March 21 to May 9.

It will take just under six minutes to charge using OppCharge pantograph high-power charging technology outside Greenhithe train station.

The vehicle uses an electric driveline featuring an energy storage system used to power and electric motor drive system.

The trial was launched by the Leader of Kent County Council Paul Carter.

Paul Carter said: “We are extremely grateful to Volvo Bus and ABB for bringing the vehicle and charging infrastructure to Kent and are proud to be only the second local authority in the country to host this trial following an initial demonstration in Manchester in September 2017.”

He added: “It has great benefits for improving air quality and reducing CO2 emissions which are important to all of us and will allow us to provide evidence that electric vehicles can provide both financial and environmental benefits for the council in the longer term.

“If this proves a success it will allow us to build a case to roll out similar schemes across the country.”