Wrightbus has carried out its first conversion of a diesel truck to electric, widening its repowering business beyond buses in an effort to speed up electrification in the transport sector.
The vehicle, a 19-tonne twin-axle DAF truck, was retrofitted by Wrightbus’s NewPower division, which was launched in 2023 to electrify existing diesel buses. According to the company, the truck “was chosen for its remarkably similar duty cycle DNA to a bus – urban deliveries with fixed routes and back-to-base.”
The conversion adapted the Wrightbus battery-electric powertrain, with more than 90% of parts shared with its bus platform. Engineers fitted the truck with a 282 kWh battery, giving it a range of up to 290 km. Repowering takes about four weeks, compared with three weeks for a bus.
Chief Executive Jean-Marc Gales said the initiative could help the trucking industry catch up with buses in the transition to zero-emission transport. “Buses have led the way in decarbonisation for the last two or three years: year-to-date sales of new buses in the UK are 75% zero-emission, but trucks are lagging way behind, with less than 1 per cent of the sector switching to EV,” Gales said. “We believe that repowering is the simplest and most cost-effective way to ignite the market and our incredible Wrightbus engineers have more experience than anyone else in replacing internal combustion engines with electric powertrains.”
The company expects the venture to create more than 160 jobs over the next two years. Wrightbus already employs over 2,300 people across its facilities in Ballymena, Coventry, Bicester, Brühl in Germany and Selangor in Malaysia.
Wrightbus also announced a change in leadership. From Dec. 1, Gales will become deputy chairman “to focus on the company’s strategic global development,” the company said. He has served as CEO since 2023.
Owner Jo Bamford welcomed the transition, saying: “Jean-Marc’s relentless focus and passion for continuous improvement, supported by the whole Wrightbus team, has set the standard for our industry to follow. There is no time to stand still, and we are laser focused on the next stage of our growth.”
