Completed Clean Energy Engineering

NextGenEV

Funder InnovateUK (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Bamford Bus Company Limited Source-published name: Bamford Bus Company LTD
Funding £2.4M
Period Feb 2019 — Jul 2022

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Wrightbus is building a new electric bus powertrain that wastes less energy on heating and air conditioning, two of the biggest drains on battery range. Current battery-electric buses lose significant range to cabin heating and cooling, especially in cold or hot climates. This forces operators to choose between passenger comfort and route distance. The NextGenEV project tackles that trade-off directly by designing a modular powertrain architecture that handles high thermal loads more efficiently. The system will be developed for both single and double-deck buses, with a motor generator unit and controller built in partnership with Zapi UK, modelling and testing led by Queen’s University Belfast, and vehicle trials run by Go-Ahead Group. If successful, the project could lower the total cost of ownership for electric buses while maximising passenger capacity per charge. That matters for bus operators, local authorities, and passengers who rely on public transport. More efficient electric buses mean fewer charging stops, longer routes, and lower operating costs—key factors for making zero-emission buses commercially sustainable on UK roads and beyond. The modular design also means the technology could be adapted for other heavy vehicles with high auxiliary power demands.

View original technical description
"NextGenEV will develop an electric powertrain architecture for energy efficient buses. Wrightbus has successfully developed three generations of ""micro-hybrid"" architecture and a low cost high efficiency Hybrid bus with the""NextGenHyBus"" project. These systems are designed to maximise energy efficiency to power ancillary systems and vehicle propulsion. The company also have a solid foundation in delivering battery electric buses, with over ten years' experience in development of these vehicles using commercially available powertrain technology. The NextGenEV programme will build on this experience of delivering innovative, competitive vehicle platforms to develop a new, highly efficient, zero-emissions bus with lower total cost of ownership and maximisation of passenger numbers, key to achieving long term sustainability of battery electric vehicles on the UK roads and globally. The powertrain will be developed as a modular system, allowing the technology developed through this work to be demonstrated for both single and double deck buses. The project will examine a range of possible architectures with specific provision made for vehicle systems with a significant air-conditioning and heating loads, often a significant factor in reducing the available range of battery electric buses. The motor generator unit and its associated controller will be developed in partnership with Zapi UK. Extensive modelling simulation and testing activities will be undertaken by Queen's University Belfast. Vehicle trials will be undertaken by Go-Ahead Group."

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Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

Next Generation Hybrid Bus (NexGenHyBus)
Hybrid Electric Technology for transit Buses
Roadmaps to Zero Net Emissions in Urban Public Transport
Bus2Grid
E Van

Original classification

Collaborative R&D

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.