Voith has delivered more than 1,000 electric drives for buses in Great Britain, with British manufacturers Alexander Dennis and Wrightbus integrating the Voith Electrical Drive System (VEDS) into their battery and fuel cell electric buses.
Voith claims that its VEDS is “demonstrably” 20% more efficient than comparable systems, based on a certification process conducted by the non-profit organization Zemo Partnership. This efficiency was verified for Wrightbus models GB Kite Electroliner and StreetDeck Electroliner.
The 1,000 VEDS units are deployed by both Alexander Dennis (ADL) and Wrightbus, with Wrightbus being the larger customer. “We plan to equip more than 1,000 vehicles with the VEDS alone by 2025,” said Robert Best, Director of Engineering at Wrightbus.
ADL is also expected to increase its use of Voith drives. Initially, ADL built the Enviro400EV double-decker in collaboration with BYD, with BYD supplying the battery and drive, and ADL providing the chassis. In 2022, ADL introduced a new in-house developed Enviro400EV featuring Voith’s electric drive, which has been available for order since November 2023.
Voith attributes part of the VEDS’s success to the favorable British funding landscape. The UK registered more electric buses than any other European country in 2023, largely due to the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme. Out of 2,554 single and double-decker buses registered, 1,150 were fully electric (BEV or FCEV), with many using Voith’s drive system.
