2 min read - 19 Sep, 2025
Wrightbus adds trucks to its repowering roster
Zero-emission bus manufacturer Wrightbus has unveiled its first repowered truck, a 19-tonne twin-axle DAF, marking a new phase in the company’s zero-emission transport expansion.
Already building 1,000 buses a year at its headquarters in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Wrightbus launched a vehicle repowering division in Bicester, Oxfordshire, earlier this year. The subsidiary, NewPower, is the largest facility of its kind in the UK, which strips out diesel engines and replaces them with an electric powertrain.
On unveiling its first truck conversion, Jean-Marc Gales, chief executive of Wrightbus, said the repowering project was a key cornerstone in the fight to decarbonise the truck sector. With air quality a persistent issue and the cost of zero-emission vehicles still out of reach for many operators, the repowered truck comes in at less than half the price of a new one.
Engineers say the conversion can take as little as four weeks, stripping out the diesel engine and gearbox and replacing it with an electric powertrain. They have spent the last 11 months on the project, which has seen them modify the vehicle to accommodate the 282kWh battery, capable of a range of 290km.
Zero-emission transport specialist Wrightbus has added trucks to its portfolio of repowered vehicles / Picture: Wrightbus
The 19-tonne truck was chosen for its similar duty cycle DNA to a bus – urban deliveries with fixed routes and back-to-base. The proven Wrightbus BEV powertrain has been adapted to suit, with more than 90% commonality of parts. In future, all trucks will be repowered at NewPower’s Bicester factory, with service and maintenance provided by a fleet of mobile service engineers and a strategic partnership with SVS, which already looks after Wrightbus’s brand of zero-emission trucks under its Rightech banner.
Jean-Marc Gales said: “Buses have led the way in decarbonisation for the last two or three years: year-to-date sales of new buses in the UK are 75% zero-emission, but trucks are lagging way behind, with less than one per cent of the sector switching to EV.
“We believe that repowering is the simplest and most cost-effective way to ignite the market, and our incredible Wrightbus engineers have more experience than anyone else in replacing internal combustion engines with electric powertrains.”
The new venture forms part of a global expansion for Wrightbus across the UK, Europe and Asia. It already employs more than 2,300 people, with service centres in Ballymena, Coventry, Bicester, Brühl in Germany and Selangor in Malaysia.
Engineers say the conversion can take as little as four weeks, stripping out the diesel engine and gearbox and replacing it with an electric powertrain / Picture: Wrightbus
Wrightbus is the number one zero-emissions bus maker in the UK. Two years ago, it had 200 zero-emission buses on the road. Last year, the figure was over 900 and this year it will surpass 3,000.
“We’ve also partnered with a service team that understands trucks like no other, complementing our growing fleet of mobile service engineers,” Jean-Marc added.
“Operators and fleet managers can have complete confidence that we can provide a 360-degree solution, helping bus customers adapt from diesel fleets to zero-emission fleets seamlessly, maintaining them with 98.6% uptime, and with each bus covering an average of 50,000 miles per annum.”
