Next-gen’ Enviro500EV arrives for KMB’s 90th

Alexander Dennis has delivered the first next-generation Enviro500EV zero-emission double-decker to The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) in time for the operator’s celebration of its 90th birthday.

The Enviro500EV is a newly-developed, integral battery-electric double-decker which utilises the heavy-duty variant of the efficient Voith Electrical Drive System, giving it a peak power output of 410kW which makes it suitable for the high and low-speed duty cycles and topographical challenges of Hong Kong. It combines this with 472kWh batteries that are assembled by Impact Clean Power Technology to a future-proof Alexander Dennis proprietary design. Clever packaging allows them to be fitted smartly within the tri-axle bus, avoiding intrusion into the passenger space and thereby delivering a conventional saloon seating layout. In KMB’s specification, the Enviro500EV seats 82 passengers and has room for two wheelchair users.

Designed in-house by Alexander Dennis and fully built in the company’s production network, the Enviro500EV has a vivid green finish that KMB has adopted for these buses under a ‘Green is Good’ slogan.

Alexander Dennis and its predecessors have been supplying buses to Hong Kong since the 1920s. KMB was founded in April 1933 as the Hong Kong Government introduced a system of exclusive services for the city’s bus network that continues to this day, with KMB running on over 400 routes covering Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories as the city’s largest franchised bus operator.

Paul Davies, Alexander Dennis President & Managing Director, said: “Happy birthday to KMB, who have been Hong Kong’s Heartbeat of the City for 90 years. We are very proud to be a long-standing business partner of KMB and this is yet another milestone in our relationship as our all-new Enviro500EV joins over 2,500 existing Alexander Dennis double-deckers in the KMB fleet, giving the operator an electric double-deck product that is superior to competitor products.”