ZEVRAS: repowering helps fleets transition to zero emissions
Thu 01 February 2024
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As the urgency of moving to zero emission vehicles increases, fleets are considering not only whole vehicle replacement but repowering valuable assets like buses in mid-life.
The Zero Emission Vehicle Repower Accreditation Scheme (ZEVRAS) raises the standard of converting vehicles to a zero emission alternative, by converting them to use an electric drivetrain and battery. The initial focus is on repowering buses and coaches. However, the scheme has been set up to extend to other commercial vehicles types such as HGVs.
ZEVRAS has been developed by Zemo and Energy Saving Trust and is designed to give potential buyers of this technology the confidence that every aspect of the modifications has been assessed, from EMC and electrical safety to tilt tests and braking.
With the opportunity for repowered buses to benefit from zero emission bus BSOG payments and SCOTZEB grant funding, suppliers joined calls for a robust scheme to ensure that common quality standards are applied to repowers. Starting in the bus market, and supported by funding from DfT, ZEVRAS was developed to ensure support would only be given to repowers meeting the highest engineering and installation standards.
Recent announcements from companies such as KleanDrive, and Equipmake have highlighted the potential for repowering to accelerate the transition of bus fleets, faster than could be achieved with just a vehicle replacement strategy (invariably subject to budget limitations).
Zemo's life-cycle analysis shows that repowering a bus at typical mid-life (around 7 years) can halve the overall GHG impact of the vehicle, saving over 600t CO2e during the full life cycle. As the electricity grid gets cleaner every year this figure will continue to improve.
The ZEVRAS web page is now live on the Energy Saving Trust website and companies can submit their applications for company and product approval. The first companies to gain ZEVRAS company approval are Equipmake Limited and KleanDrive Limited. Both have product approval applications in progress
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