Shantel
Zeelo – global independent provider of 100% carbon neutral smart bus transport with live operations in three continents – has launched an electric bus program in partnership with six clients in the UK. The company has kicked off a taster scheme for six months with six local bus operators and six clients to switch their existing Zeelo commuter service to electric bus routes free-of-charge for a period of one month each. The initiative enables clients to test the feasibility of delivering emissions-free staff transport. As a long-standing client partner, Jaguar Land Rover has completed its one-month trial of an electric bus powered by Zeelo on its Gaydon site employee commuter service, a 40km round-trip service amounting to 1,586 km each month.
Making the switch to an emissions-free employee commuter service across all existing routes would enable Jaguar Land Rover to reduce its own CO2 emissions by 2,500 cubic tonnes per year and contribute to its own commitment to become carbon net zero by 2039. Jaguar Land Rover has been running Zeelo’s smart bus services for over five years, booking over 113,000 bus rides per year for office workers and frontline staff from nearby towns, and is also supporting the net-zero scheme as one of Zeelo’s first backers through its corporate venture capital arm InMotion Ventures.
Sam Ryan, CEO of Zeelo, commented: “We’re not just talking about going green, we’re actually doing it. Already 5% of our services are electric and we intend to hit 15% by end of year. But our mission for all Zeelo smart bus commutes to be net-zero by 2030 cannot be achieved without bringing the technology on the road, and conducting real-life feasibility tests to get buy-in from both our clients and our operator partners. That’s why we’re delighted to bring on board our longest standing client and VC investor Jaguar Land Rover on the net-zero journey with us. I feel confident that Zeelo can pave the way for the wider transport industry and household brands with staff commuter services to transition to emissions-free shared transport.”
Mike Smeed CVC Managing Director of InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of Jaguar Land Rover, commented: “Sam and his team have been supporting Jaguar Land Rover with commuter travel since 2018, and we’re delighted our ongoing investment in the business has led to an exploration of how to help all parties achieve their sustainability ambitions. Equity investments are a critical component of our Open Innovation programme, a model for partnering with promising start-ups to create next-generation technologies that support Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine strategy*.”
Key to Zeelo’s nationwide roadshow this month is to illustrate to its network of more than 200 bus operator partners the ease-of-use of electric vehicles for mass transit, and reduce barriers to modernise bus fleets; for example high costs and concerns around distance achievable on electric powered buses. Providing bus operators the chance to trial a Yutong TCe12, the initiative will make it possible for fleet operators to measure the capabilities of electric vehicles in action before they make a commitment to investing in a complete electric fleet. Clients are already keen for the service but scaling the availability of electric buses is dependent on investment from bus operators. Zeelo has therefore set in place a financing scheme where partial costs for making the switch to electric transport will be covered through an upgraded client contract, while at the same time enabling a preferential financing scheme for electric fleets and portable charging infrastructure provided to operators by Zeelo’s partner Zenobe.
Joanne Hill, a frequent rider of Zeelo commuter buses, and the Leadership, Purpose and Talent Consultant at Jaguar Land Rover at Gaydon, commented: “The free commuter bus service that Jaguar Land Rover runs between Gaydon and Whitley sites is brilliant for me, not just because it saves me time and money on my daily commute, but also because I may not have been able to accept the job opportunity without a regular commuter service. The service is easy to use, reliable and I like the fact that electric buses are now being considered by my employer. I know many people would opt to travel by electric bus and leave their car at home if such a service became readily available.”
Travelling by bus rather than car already enables a 78% reduction in CO2 emissions per journey. Zeelo’s tech-enabled, flexible, turn-key and plug-in transportation services for over 1.8 million passengers per year on their daily commute to work and school across the UK, US and South Africa is already 100% carbon neutral through offsetting measures. However, Zeelo is taking its ESG mission one step further, having pledged to transition all its services to net-zero electric bus routes by 2030.
The electric bus trial initiative has been made possible thanks to Zeelo’s new partnership program with UK’s leading importer and distributor of YUTONG TCe12 buses and coaches, Pelican, which was launched in 2012 as part of the Pelican Engineering Group and has been part of Zeelo’s bus operator network since supplying fleets for services to Zeelo client McLaren.
First electric bus commutes for Ocado have been on the road since 2021, and similarly for Dwight School London since 2022 who partnered with Zeelo to launch their first ever staff commutes and opted to start off immediately with smart bus commutes on electric buses. Zeelo’s 2023 electric bus trials are designed to accelerate the transition to net zero services across all existing diesel-powered commutes over the next seven years.
See Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine Strategy: https://www.jaguarlandrover.com/
About Zeelo
Zeelo is a smart bus platform for organisations. The global tech company is modernising daily bus commutes for frontline workers and students so that they can get to work and school in a faster, smarter, and much greener way. Zeelo serves large businesses and independent schools and moves nearly 150,000 riders each month across the world. Zeelo’s tech-optimised bus routes not only reduce carbon emissions by 78% by replacing 30 cars for every bus journey, but also offset 100% of each Zeelo bus journey. Its innovative transport management software system comprises a SaaS platform, proprietary routing algorithms, mobile apps for riders and drivers, and 24/7 customer service support (4.9 TrustPilot rating) that ensure people located in transport deserts have a regular, subsidised and sustainable bus service for their daily commute, wherever they are based. Headquartered in London with over 160 employees, an R&D team in Spain and live operations in the UK, South Africa and the US, Zeelo was founded in 2016 by Sam Ryan, Barney Williams and Dani Ruiz. It closed its Series A in 2018 and has raised over US$ 30 million in funding, including VC-backed investment from ETF Partners, InMotion Ventures and Dynamo. The co-founders previously sold their pioneering ride-sharing app JumpIn to Addison Lee in 2014. For additional information, please visit www.zeelo.co
