00:00Breathing new life into aging bus fleets, stripping out the old diesel engine, replacing it with a new electric motor and battery.
00:10The transformation looks rather straightforward.
00:13All we do is we remove the engine and gearbox and replace it with a new power skid that has a battery pack and electric driveline assembled into it.
00:21So it's a very quick process and from a vehicle arriving on site as a diesel vehicle to it leaving as a new power vehicle takes three weeks.
00:30RideBus is a company based in Bicester, about an hour's drive from London.
00:35It says it can convert about 500 buses a year at a cost of about half the price of a new electric bus.
00:43More than 34,000 diesel buses are thought to be operating across the UK.
00:50Every single diesel bus that is replaced by an electrical bus reduces CO2 by 74 tonnes a year.
00:5840,000 litres of diesel that are avoided, convincing the complete population to switch to electrical cars will take much longer than decarbonising bus transport.
01:09The UK government has provided some funding to help local authorities switch to zero emission buses.
01:16Similar measures to decarbonise public transport have also been rolled out in China, the European Union, the US and India.
01:24And this means business for companies just like RideBus.
01:29This is a huge market. I mean in terms of the electric bus market globally, it's projected to increase to $30 billion by the end of this decade.
01:42And it's growing at a rapid rate. It's about 20% a year growth.
01:46And you see it's an enormous market in terms of reaching net zero in transportation for many countries.
01:52By 2035, sales of new vehicles with internal combustion engines will be banned across the UK, which means more electric vehicles on the road.
02:03As the number of electric vehicles grows, so does electricity demand.
02:08According to National Grid, a significant surge in EV adoption will increase the electricity usage by up to 30% by 2040.
02:17And more investment in the energy infrastructure will be needed to ensure the success of these retrofitted buses.
02:24Li Jianhua, CGTM, Bicester, England.
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