Good news for Camelon coach builder as next week's strike looms large

Unite the union stated last month its members based at the ADL were scheduled to strike from Monday, December 4 to Sunday, December 17 over a recent pay offer of four per cent.

Unite, which represents 400 workers at the firm, said a strike ballot returned an 81.3 per cent yes vote on a 70 per cent turnout.

The news of the strike action comes as the company confirmed Stagecoach would be the customer receiving 20 of its recently-launched Enviro100EV small zero-emission buses.

Stagecoach placed its order for 20 Enviro100EV ahead of the type’s launch and production is now under way with deliveries expected in the first half of 2024.

The Enviro100EV was unveiled earlier this month as part of the manufacturer’s next generation of battery-electric buses. The energy stored in its 354kWh batteries

gives it a class-leading range of up to 285 miles.

The battery system was developed for Alexander Dennis by its partner Impact Clean Power Technology. Particular attention has been paid to making it future-proof by allowing easy battery replacement with newer batteries in later life without a need for vehicle modifications.

Paul Davies, ADL president and managing director, said: “We’re delighted to have Stagecoach on board as the launch customer for our Enviro100EV ‘big small bus’.

We really valued their input as we worked closely with them through the concept phase.

"These next-generation electric buses will be versatile assets for Stagecoach, their expansive range and diminutive road footprint making them equally suited to narrow town streets as winding country lanes.

“It’s a significant technical challenge packaging 354kWh of battery capacity and up to 285 miles of range into such a small vehicle but our engineers have pulled out the

Top Trump card once again.”

Sam Greer, chief operating officer for Stagecoach, added: “Acquiring the new Enviro100EV reaffirms our commitment to our customers experience while also bringing us

a step closer to realising our goal of being fully Net Zero by 2050.”