Tag Archives: coach

News

Grayson eyes £25m electric vehicle opportunity with roll out of new Vehicle Thermal Management System

A Vehicle Thermal Management System (VTMS) that saves weight and optimises driving range for electric buses, commercial vehicles and off highway applications is marking its first year in production in style.

Grayson Thermal Systems’ revolutionary VTMS combines battery thermal management and heat pump and air conditioning technology into one single system that helps the end-user save costs and space.

The technology, which also incorporate waste heat recycling and electric motor cooling to deliver the complete solution, is expected to tap into the demand for cleaner transport and bosses believe sales for electric double-deck buses could generate £15m of sales by the end of 2023 and more than £25m by 2025.

In order to take advantage of commercial volumes also starting to grow from 2024 onwards, Grayson is investing heavily in its UK manufacturing and build capability, and this will lead to the creation of tens of jobs locally.

“The beauty of our VTMS is that it brings all of our proven battery thermal management and heat pump technology for zero emission vehicles together in one neatly packaged system,” explained Matthew Hateley, European Sales Manager at Grayson Thermal Systems.

“Our unique software platform and clever control logic allows component sharing for different uses meaning a smaller and lighter solution, whilst our technical team have also come up with a unique way to recycle waste energy back into the system – helping the battery conserve power whilst, at the same time, delivering optimum heating and air conditioning performance.”

He went on to add: “The commercial vehicle platform has been designed in a modular way so that the OEM can build-in the technical features they want based on system performance requirements, cost and weight targets.”

Wrightbus, a world-leader in hydrogen and electric technology for the transport sector, became the first company to integrate the Grayson Vehicle Thermal Management System into parts of its fleet last year, a decision that has helped the StreetDeck Electroliner to officially become the most efficient double-deck battery-electric bus in the world.

Official assessments undertaken at UTAC – using the ZEMO-accredited Ultra Low Emission Bus (ULEB) test – showed that the bus achieved a result of 0.68 kWh/km.

This is around half the energy consumed by its closest BEV double-deck UK rival and a major contributing factor to this impressive result was the low energy consumption of the Grayson VTMS to achieve the HVAC requirements and maintain battery temperatures during the test.

Matthew continued to say: “We set a high expectation for what we wanted to achieve in terms of weight and energy efficiency savings, so to accomplish the test results we have gives us a high level of confidence that our technology will change the requirements of electric vehicle HVAC forever.

“More than two years after setting out our strategic goals, it’s fantastic to see our Vehicle Thermal Management System on the roads in and around the UK.”

Ian Gillott, Managing Director at Wrightbus, said: “We are pleased to have integrated the Grayson Vehicle Thermal Management System into part of our fleet. This has resulted in our StreetDeck Electroliner becoming the most efficient double-deck battery-electric bus in the world – something we are immensely proud of.

“Thermal management is critical to vehicle efficiency and the partnership between Grayson and Wrightbus has allowed us to fully optimise this. Being a leader in the zero-emissions transport industry, it is pleasing for us that Grayson is doing all it can to further enhance our vehicles’ performance and green credentials.”

Matthew went on to add: “We are now into the next stage of the development to further improve our product to optimise the performance and green credentials of electric vehicles whilst meeting new legislation coming into effect in 2024.

“The VTMS is the latest system we have introduced to our product range, and we’re delighted to have played a small, but important role in the StreetDeck Electroliner being named as the world’s most efficient double-deck battery-electric bus.

“Both firms share a passion for innovation and that will only continue as we aim to deliver greener transport solutions for the sector.”

Grayson Thermal Systems has worked hard to ensure the VTMS is extremely versatile as it embarks on the next set of customer programmes to productionise its platform for the commercial vehicle sector, including HGVs (up to 28 tonnes), refuse collection and off-highway vehicles destined for mining and construction.

News, Transport

Coach Hire Comparison on course for record year as bookings soar

A coach hire price comparison website is on track for a record year as bookings surge amid the travel industry’s ongoing revival.

Coach Hire Comparison provided more than 26,000 quotes between January and March, with bookings totalling £1.4m.

More than 10,000 quotes were provided in March, the highest monthly total since the business was established in 2010 by husband-and-wife team James and Laura Stokes.

James said he expects bookings for the year as a whole to reach £5.5m – double the 2021 figure, which was itself a record as the travel industry bounced back following the easing of COVID restrictions.

Alongside the travel revival, improvements to Coach Hire Comparison’s offering have driven growth, including an enhanced Away from Base service that enables operators to utilise their vehicles during a stay at a destination.

Coach Hire Comparison, which is based in Shirland, Derbyshire, works with over 200 independent coach and minibus operators across England, Scotland and Wales. The figure has risen by over 25 per cent since the autumn. Operators pay a monthly fee to be listed on the website.

James said: “We anticipated that 2022 would be our busiest ever year, but I don’t think anyone in the industry would have predicted the first quarter would see as much demand as there has been. It certainly surpassed our expectations.”

Events such as horse racing’s Cheltenham Festival in March – the first time since 2020 that fans have been allowed to attend – helped drive Coach Hire Comparison’s stellar performance. Around 200 coaches were booked through the site, double the usual number for the four-day festival.

A resurgence in air travel has led to a sharp increase in airport transfers, while demand for school trips, corporate bookings and music festivals has continued to grow. James said bookings for stag and hen party trips have also soared.

“Many hen and stag groups have opted to stay in the UK rather than face the hassle of organising overseas trips. Also, given rising fuel costs, they have tended to travel together by minibus or coach to their destination, rather than separately in cars,” he said.

“Our enhanced Away from Base offering has also stimulated bookings, as it offers operators an excellent way to utilise vehicles which are in another part of the country for a few days awaiting a return journey. They are able to advertise the availability of their coaches and minibuses while they are there.

“For example, an operator is taking a party from the London area to Blackpool for this coming weekend and, due to high fuel prices, opted to have the driver and coach remain in the resort rather than return to base empty and then having to go and pick up the group three nights later.

“The company took advantage of Away from Base to advertise that the coach would be there, and secured a booking within 24 hours to take fans from the north west to Wembley and back for the FA Cup Semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City this coming weekend.

“Away from Base has been really well received and has had a marked impact on booking levels.

“We are also seeing other initiatives bearing fruit and driving activity, including the rebrand we undertook during the first Covid lockdown in 2020 and ongoing investment to improve our processes and enhance the user experience. The work we have done during the pandemic with creative agency Fluid Ideas is really paying off.

“Our strong performance in the first three months of 2022, the development of our website and technical enhancements, as well as increasing number of operators using our service, gives us great confidence for the full year and beyond.”

Operators using the Coach Hire Comparison website are typically small, owner-driver businesses with up to five vehicles, ranging from eight-seater minibuses to double decker coaches.