The first six Enviro 400Hs were ordered on 14th April 2010 following the company's successful submission to the Government's Green Bus Fund competition held during 2009. Each bus cost a total of £300,000 of which £108,000 (the additional cost of being a hybrid) came from the government. The funding bid also included provision for a further 14 similar vehicles in 2011 if the first 6 prove successful. Further funding was obtained in the second round of the Green Bus Fund competition to provide a 11 more vehicles which were ordered along with the 14 remaining from the first round as a batch of 25, making a total of 31.
The buses are to a special extended length of 11.4 metres to give more legroom as well as more space on the lower deck for buggies and wheelchairs. They are also fitted with free WiFi. The first to arrive in Reading was 202 on 26th November 2010, featuring at a launch at the Old Town Hall on 6th December 2010 (see here). All six then entered service in yellow and orange route 26 livery on 13th December. 201 is seen below on 13th December 2010:
The rear profile of 205 on 13th December 2010:
Due to delays caused by snow in December 2010, the final parts of the rear and interior route branding weren't fitted until 9th and 16th January 2011. 206 is seen below displaying the completed rear treatment on 7th February 2011:
Arrivals of the second batch commenced with 210-12 sometime between 27th and 29th June 2011 and 207/13 by 2nd July. After a short gap 216 followed on approx 25th July after being seen at the Leyland staging post on 23rd with 214/7/8 following soon after. 208 was seen at the factory in Falkirk on 28th July and arrived on 2nd August, and 209 arrived on 3rd August. 220 was seen at the factory in Falkirk on 30th August 2011, and 219-21 the Leyland staging post on 4th September pending delivery the following day. 222 arrived on 6th September, 223 on 7th, 224 on 8th, 225 by 11th, 226 by 11th, 227 on 12th (after being noted at Leyland on 11th), 228 on 21st, 229 on 21st, 230 on 23rd and 231 on 27th.
Initial liveries were as follows:
201-7 - Yellow 26
208-9 - silver and grey for use on any route
210-18 - Claret Routes for routes 20/20A/21
219-31 - Purple 17
207 is seen below on its second day in service on 15th July 2011:
209 and 213 are seen below on Friar Street on 30th August 2011:
Initially, 210-18 wore unbranded Claret Routes livery to allow flexibility during the repainting of the Scania OmniCity Double Deckers on route 17 pending the delivery 219-31. Heavy rain on 16th July 2011 led to two upper deck windows being cracked, so initial arrivals 210-13/15 were taken out of service until 26th whilst the pre-planned tree pruning in Lower Earley was accelerated. 215 is seen below on it's first day in service on 15th July 2011:
212 received full Claret Routes branding on 17/18th September 2011 ahead of the formal launch at Reading University on 19th, followed by 213 by 23rd. 213 is seen below on 26th September 2011:
220 is seen partially branded at Great Knollys Street on 5th September 2011 one day after its arrival. Thanks to Reading Buses for this photo:
226 is seen below on it's first day in service 1st October 2011:
Following swiftly on from the announcement of the Green Bus Fund funding, an E400H demonstrator SN59 AWW was borrowed between 2nd and 4th November 2009, appearing in service on route 17 on 3rd and 4th. It was hailed by drivers and customers alike as an outstanding vehicle. A dozen prototype ADL 400 Enviro hybrids had also been running very reliably in London on routes 16 and 24 for the past 18 months which were also reported to be excellent.
At the heart of this hybrid is a system developed by BAe Systems, Rochester which has been widely used in America over the last ten years, coupled with familiar Alexander Dennis parts. A battery powered electric motor provides the traction with a small diesel engine (in the case of the demonstrator the same as fitted to ADL Enviro 200 Darts) charging modern lithium-ion batteries. Power is also derived from regenerative braking where energy that would normally be converted to heat or sound is diverted back to the batteries, meaning that overall the Enviro 400H is guaranteed to be at least 20% more fuel efficient than a normal diesel powered vehicle. The cost of the batteries and specialist systems mean that the vehicles are considerably more expensive to buy, but the manufactures expect that the fuel savings will pay for a significant amount of this when factored across the whole life of the vehicle. In addition, as the vehicle does not use a gearbox it has a significantly smoother ride.
The demonstrator, given temporary fleet number 900 is seen below on 3rd November 2009:
The demonstrator returned briefly on 15th April 2010 to coincide with the press release regarding the order of the first vehicles.