Optare took top honours at last night's (Tuesday 27 November 2012) SMMT annual dinner in London – winning the SMMT Award for Innovation.
The innovative bus company won the award for its Versa EV electric bus – the UK's first viable full-size, battery powered bus, which uses rapid charging technology to deliver a 100 mile range =, extendable with opportunistic charging.
The judges – SMMT chief exec Paul Everett, Business Growth Fund investment director Ian Downing, The Times industry editor Robert Lea, vehicle enthusiast Robert Llewellyn and GKN Driveline chief engineer Dave Salt – noted that operating costs are a fraction of diesel bus equivalents and that there are zero emissions.
Shortlisted entries were: ABB's Terra Smart Connect Duo charging systems, widely expected to speed up the nation's charging infrastructure; JLR, Nissan Infiniti and Lotus, with their REEV (range extended electric vehicle) demonstrators; Squarrel's in-cab telematics; the Vocis seamless shifting and clutchless transmission for EVs; and Williams Hybrid Power's flywheel energy storage.
WheelRight's TPMS (tyre pressure management system) was highly commended.
