Electric bus trial begins at Stansted

National Express is testing a fully electric bus at London Stansted Airport as part of a month-long trial designed to assess whether battery-powered vehicles can replace diesel buses on busy airport shuttle services.

The trial sees a Mercedes-Benz eCitaro electric bus operating on Stansted Airport's long-stay car park shuttle route, replacing the diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro normally used for the service.

The project will give National Express and Stansted Airport an opportunity to test electric bus technology under demanding real-world airport conditions, where shuttle vehicles operate frequently throughout the day and cover substantial distances.

The electric eCitaro will operate between Stansted Airport's long-stay car park and the passenger terminal during the one-month trial.

This is a particularly useful route for testing battery-electric technology because the existing diesel bus typically travels around 180 miles every day.

Rather than conducting a limited demonstration, the trial will therefore put the electric vehicle through the type of intensive daily operation required from an airport shuttle.

National Express will monitor how well the bus performs over the course of the test, including its ability to complete the required mileage while maintaining a reliable service for airport passengers.

Several aspects of the eCitaro's performance will be assessed.

National Express will examine the bus's energy consumption, charging requirements and operational reliability, while feedback will also be collected from passengers and members of the company's operational team.

The results should provide a clearer picture of whether battery-electric buses can successfully handle the demands of high-frequency airport shuttle operations.

Rafael Fernandez, managing director at National Express, said the company is exploring more sustainable ways of providing passenger transport for its airport partners.

He said the trial would help the company understand where battery-electric technology can work effectively on demanding services and identify the practical considerations involved in introducing electric vehicles.

An important element of the trial is that the eCitaro will be charged using renewable energy supplied by Stansted Airport.

Electric vehicles produce no exhaust emissions while being driven, potentially helping to improve local air quality around terminals, car parks and other heavily used airport areas.

The environmental benefit of electric transport also depends partly on how the electricity used to charge vehicles is generated, making the use of renewable energy particularly relevant to the project.

London Stansted Airport believes the long-stay car park shuttle provides a suitable environment for evaluating the technology.

Nick Millar, operations director at London Stansted, said the airport was pleased to support the National Express trial and that it would help provide a better understanding of how battery-electric buses perform in a busy airport environment.

The airport considers the long-stay service particularly useful because its demanding operating pattern should provide meaningful information about charging, range and day-to-day reliability.

Those findings could help inform decisions about the future use of electric buses at the airport.

Airports operate large numbers of ground vehicles every day, including passenger buses, car park shuttles, maintenance vehicles and service vehicles.

Unlike many conventional bus routes, airport shuttle services frequently involve repeated journeys over relatively predictable routes.

That can make them potentially well suited to electrification because operators know approximately how far each vehicle will travel and can plan charging around established operating schedules.

However, airport buses also need to remain available for long periods, particularly at airports such as Stansted that handle flights from early morning until late at night.

The trial should therefore help determine whether an electric bus can provide sufficient range while still allowing enough time for charging.

The project forms part of wider sustainability efforts by both National Express and London Stansted Airport.

National Express parent company Mobico Group has set an ambition to achieve a fully net-zero fleet by 2040.

Moving away from diesel vehicles towards battery-electric alternatives could play an important role in reaching that target.

For Stansted, reducing emissions from vehicles operating within the airport is another component of its wider net-zero carbon ambitions.

Passengers using Stansted's long-stay car park may find themselves travelling aboard the electric eCitaro during the trial.

From a passenger perspective, the service should operate much like the existing airport shuttle, transporting travellers and their luggage between the car park and terminal.

Electric buses are typically quieter than diesel vehicles and produce no exhaust emissions while operating, which could make journeys around the airport quieter while helping reduce local vehicle emissions.

The trial itself does not mean Stansted's entire shuttle fleet is immediately becoming electric.

Instead, National Express and the airport will use the results to determine how suitable battery-electric vehicles are for this particular type of operation.

Much will depend on what National Express learns during the month-long test.

A vehicle covering approximately 180 miles every day provides a demanding test of battery capacity, charging infrastructure and operational reliability.

If the eCitaro performs successfully, the findings could help support future decisions about replacing more diesel-powered airport buses with electric alternatives.

For passengers arriving at or departing from Stansted, the trial is also another visible example of how airport ground transport is beginning to change.

From electric buses and private vehicles to increasingly efficient airport transfer fleets, reducing emissions from journeys to, from and around airports is becoming an increasingly important part of the aviation industry's environmental strategy.

Written by Airports Transfer for passengers travelling to and from London airports.