Mellor to launch new electric bus range

Bus producer Mellor has announced it will launch a new range of single-deck battery electric buses for 2022.

The new multi-variant range is expected to include an extensive choice of lengths, widths, operating ranges and gross vehicle weights, with further details due to be announced in December 2021.

The news follows the announcement in October of Mellor’s ambitions to reposition the business from 2022, with subsequent plans revealed for the opening of a new Mellor facility in Scarborough next year.

The new electric bus range is the culmination of the wider capabilities of Woodall Nicholson – Mellor’s parent group company – having seen development through investment over recent years. The product announcement is very much part of Mellor’s repositioning plans to address increasing customer demands for zero emissions buses, to provide both technical and commercial solutions outside the current traditional thinking of many bus suppliers.

With the opening of a new Mellor (Scarborough) facility next autumn to support Mellor’s existing manufacturing HQ in Rochdale, Mellor’s sister company, Promech Technologies, is also an integral part of the new purpose-built facility in Scarborough. The partnership creates a symbiosis between the two organisations and one which is unique in the bus and coach manufacturing sector.

Mellor’s current and well-established product line-up includes the Orion, Strata, Maxima and Tucana ranges, together offering size- and cost-appropriate vehicle options for a wide range of operations. The line-up also includes a growing number of full-electric variants, including recent new models to take advantage of recent government funding initiatives.

Mellor’s Bus Division Managing Director, Mark Clissett said: “We’re very excited indeed about our new electric bus range. It's a bold move which we believe will shake-up the UK bus market and deliver a fresh new business proposition for operators. Our new electric bus range will provide a genuine alternative for customers, with the widest range of models currently on the market today.

“Our focus has fallen on people, technology and facilities,” he said, “and we’re bringing all these aspects together now as we gear-up for an exciting 2022.”