Electric Minibus
Project Description
The project is to operate one of the world’s first electric minibuses.
The minibus is being manufactured by Smith Electric Vehicles, the world’s largest manufacturer of on-road commercial electric vehicles. It is based on a Ford chassis, has 15 seats, and a range of 80 miles.
It will be based at Reepham High School & Sixth Form College, where a fast-charge point will be installed. The minibus will be made available to other community groups who are members of the Norfolk Car Club.
Benefits
The Electric Minibus will provide ultra-low carbon transport for Reepham, especially for:-
1. Reepham High School & Sixth Form College
2. Community Groups, such as the Reepham Patient Care Fund, wishing to use it to provide a service to Reepham residents
3. Other groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce, to operate a regular service enabling residents of neighbouring villages to visit Reepham.
Implementation
The first task was to analyse the needs of potential users – especially Reepham High School & Sixth Form College, and Reepham Patient Care Fund. This gave us the number of journeys currently undertaken, the number of passengers carried, and the distance of each journey.
Based on this analysis, we were able to specify that a 15 seat minibus with the largest available battery pack, was the optimum choice for the electric minibus.