Lothian Buses Wright StreetAir EV DF
A bus with unforeseen consequences....
Lothian Buses is seen as one of the best bus operators in the country and its only natural with an extensive and modern fleet - which included one if the biggest fleets of Hybrid double deckers outside London - that they would be in the vanguard of electric buses.
For their first such buses they turned to their established supplier, Wrightbus, and as such Lothian became the first customer of Wright’s StreetAir range of single-deckers. Basically, this is a single-decker based on the Eclipse design mounted on a StreetDeck chassis with an electric drivetrain. The batteries to power the bus sit in a extension to the roof as seen here on 286 (SK67FLE). It’s not the prettiest of designs to be fair but electric buses rarely are, as the batteries have to go somewhere and that ruins the design.
However, these StreetAir buses haven’t been as successful as hoped. Range and reliability seems to have been problems and these issues have meant no more have followed. Indeed, it’s been suggested that the issues are a major reason why Lothian placed its next orders with ADL.
Lothian Buses Wright StreetAir EV DF
A bus with unforeseen consequences....
Lothian Buses is seen as one of the best bus operators in the country and its only natural with an extensive and modern fleet - which included one if the biggest fleets of Hybrid double deckers outside London - that they would be in the vanguard of electric buses.
For their first such buses they turned to their established supplier, Wrightbus, and as such Lothian became the first customer of Wright’s StreetAir range of single-deckers. Basically, this is a single-decker based on the Eclipse design mounted on a StreetDeck chassis with an electric drivetrain. The batteries to power the bus sit in a extension to the roof as seen here on 286 (SK67FLE). It’s not the prettiest of designs to be fair but electric buses rarely are, as the batteries have to go somewhere and that ruins the design.
However, these StreetAir buses haven’t been as successful as hoped. Range and reliability seems to have been problems and these issues have meant no more have followed. Indeed, it’s been suggested that the issues are a major reason why Lothian placed its next orders with ADL.