Mellor delivers a Orion E electric bus for HALO Kilmarnock in the UK

The HALO Kilmarnock, one of the most environmentally friendly urban renewal developments in the UK, has completed the purchase of a fully electric Mellor Orion E bus, with the help of a Green Economy Fund grant from SP Energy Networks. Seven units of the same model were delivered in late 2021 in Leeds. Still in late 2021 Mellor announced the launch of the Sigma electric bus range.

The low-floor electric bus will provide zero-emissions transport for visitors to the state-of-the-art 50,000 square foot HEIC in Kilmarnock, within the 23-acre HALO Digital and Cyber Innovation Park.

With a vision for a commercial, educational, leisure and lifestyle quarter where people can ‘Live, Work, Learn and Play’, The HALO is setting the standard for low carbon energy sites in the UK, providing a blueprint for sustainable communities powered by renewable energy. 

HALO Kilmarnock takes delivery of a Mellor electric minibus

The HALO has invested almost £1.5million in cutting edge low carbon technology, including over 100 rooftop solar panels, a solar carport and 12 fast-charging electric vehicle chargers. It also features 10 zero emissions e-bikes and chargers, two electric cars, a world-class battery storage facility and 12 fast-charging electric vehicle chargers alongside the Mellor Orion E bus.

The Mellor Orion E is a low-floor, zero-emissions minibus. Boasting an impressive 160km of range (as Mellor states) and taking just 4.25 hours to reach full charge, the 16 person-capacity bus employs the latest in electric motor and drivetrain technology.

The HALO Kilmarnock is a £63m brownfield urban regeneration project on a 23-acre site, formerly the home of Johnnie Walker, the world’s leading Scotch whisky. The project received grant funding with £3.5 million from the UK Government, £3.5 million from the Scottish Government, and £2 million from East Ayrshire Council as part of the £251.5 million Ayrshire Growth Deal – a ten-year investment programme jointly funded by the UK and Scottish governments and local authorities. Diageo, who owned the land occupied by the former Johnnie Walker bottling plant, gifted 23 acres of land to the HALO and has invested £2m in the project to help create a community regeneration development for Kilmarnock.

Marie Macklin CBE, Founder and Executive Chair at the HALO Urban Regeneration Company, said, “The Mellor Orion E aligns perfectly with our vision of a sustainable community powered by renewable energy. At The HALO Kilmarnock, we are leading the way in the development of low carbon energy sites across the UK, and entrepreneurs and other visitors to the HEIC can be safe in the knowledge that this mode of transport is helping to support our efforts to harness renewable energy in place of fossil-fuelled power right across the development.”