Funding through the UK Governments Shared Prosperity Fund created an opportunity to invest in an all-electric vehicle and EVM’s eCtyline has not disappointed. OTS Bus Services Manager, Craig George explains: “We needed a very specific vehicle for this service. It has always run with Mercedes Sprinters of various shapes and sizes and we knew the key was to have a low floor EV bus with good capacity in a small footprint with a high level of compatibility with our existing fleet” Craig adds. “The Sprinter is a proven product for us, we know it inside-out. We also hold the EVM Cityline in very high regard, with ICE variants serving us very well over the last five years. All those factors made the eCityline an easy choice”.
OTS operate service 60 in their hometown on the coast. The service operates a 20-minute frequency right through the otherwise pedestrianised town centre, connecting shops with rail stations, ferry terminals, car parks and residential areas. “Operating through the pedestrian area, there was a clear case for us to bring an electric vehicle to this service”, explains OTS Bus Services Manager, Craig George. “We were delighted when Cornwall Council invited us to be included in their bid for ZEBRA2 funding”.
OTS Bus & Coach of Falmouth took delivery of an 18-seat EVM eCityline in May 2025 and at the time it was Cornwall’s first electric bus in service. Since then, it’s been making Falmouth town centre a cleaner, quieter environment and has recently passed its first major milestone having clocked up 10,000 miles over five months.
Not all operators have the confidence to switch to electric. Trusted Mercedes-Benz Diesel variants create a test for fleet and engineering managers. For OTS Bus & Coach, it’s proved to be the right choice, with the vehicle being well received by the business. “It’s a great tool” enthuses Craig. “It’s proved to be remarkably reliable with only two days unavailable for use in it’s time with us so far, and on that occasion EVM couldn’t do enough to help us get it back out working again. Since then, other than routine inspections, it hasn’t needed anything – it goes out each day and does what we need it to do.”
The route the vehicle is employed on also incorporates a morning school journey, with the vehicle clocking up 80 miles a day. “It has plenty of range for what we need it to do. The stop-start urban nature of the route suits EV perfectly. We often see the bus return with 25-30% remaining after 11 hours on the road.”
The company has also invested in a solar energy project at their depot site outside of Falmouth. The project was part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The funding was allocated through Cornwall Council’s Growth Hub Grants Programme which is part of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme. “We have had 109 solar panels installed on one depot building roof and we can not just power the depot but also store 90 kWh on site. On a good-weather day, we can completely charge the eCityline with harvested solar energy, which gives us a clear advantage over an ICE vehicle” Craig explains.
The eCityline isn’t just loved by the company, but by the drivers and passengers too. “Drivers really enjoy the serenity of driving the eCityline. It’s so quiet, and effortless to drive too. There’s a lot of stress on drivers and we take every opportunity to address that within our organisation. I think we hadn’t considered than an EV was going to have such a positive impact in this area but the drivers are certainly feeding that back to us. The passengers love it for the same reason, as well as enhancements to the accessibility features they were used to previously”.
What of the future for this vehicle? “The eCityline has built a strong case for further EV investment in future” says Craig. “The engineers love it, the drivers love it, the passengers love it and of course there are clear advantages for the environment we operate in. Our other bus workings cover significantly higher mileage but the eCityline has been a great foundation to give us confidence that even as an SME operator the future of operating electric buses is very bright indeed”.
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