The Big Lemon was today announced as one of the winners of the latest round of Ultra-Low Emission Bus funding which will provide £48m support for 263 ultra-low emission vehicles.

The announcement was made by Buses Minister, Nusrat Ghani, at today’s UK Bus Summit in Westminster, and follows the previous Low Emission Bus Scheme which saw The Big Lemon win funding for three brand new electric buses (the first of which by pure coincidence arrived in our depot just yesterday!)

Tom Druitt, founder and CEO of The Big Lemon said: “We are delighted that The Big Lemon’s plans for a zero-emission bus network for Brighton and Hove has been recognised for its potential to improve air quality in the city and we look forward to working with the Department for Transport to make it happen.

“Our vision is that by 2030 every community in the UK has zero-emissions bus services run on renewable energy, and with six routes in Brighton and Hove soon to be powered by solar energy generated on the roof of our bus depot this is an important step to realising that vision.”

In 2018, 4.2% of the UK bus sector was completely zero emission at the tailpipe (including 309 electric buses and 20 running on hydrogen fuel cells). Compared with the best ever monthly figure for the car sector of 1% pure battery electric vehicles.

Electric buses can save up to 72% of the CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions compared with a standard Euro V diesel buses (based on the 2018 UK average electricity grid mix). The Big Lemon’s electric buses are charged by solar panels on the roof of our bus depot, following a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2017 supported by over 1500 people, with over 170 cash donations from residents and local businesses.

For more information on The Big Lemon’s plans for a zero-emissions and zero-carbon fleet please visit https://thebiglemon.com/electric