Image source: First Bus
Serving more than a million passengers a day, First Bus is one of the largest bus companies in the UK. By 2035, they aim to operate a zero-emission bus fleet and have already installed rapid electric vehicle charging infrastructure across 15+ depots nationwide.
In July 2025, First Bus launched First Charge, a shared charging initiative that provides ultra rapid EV charging services to fleets that partner with the scheme, as well as the public.
There are several benefits to sharing EV charging infrastructure. In First Bus’ case, they have large depots equipped with infrastructure that during the daytime isn’t used by their buses (which charge overnight). This low daytime utilisation of charge points presented an opportunity for First Bus to make their infrastructure available to others and make a return on their investment.
Shared infrastructure means accommodating a range of charging needs and dynamics, so flexibility from a hardware and software perspective is key. It was therefore important the First Charge initiative was supported by a charge point management system that could handle complexity. First Bus chose Fuuse as their software partner to power the First Charge scheme, knowing that Fuuse could offer them:
Fuuse ensures reliability through charger and issue management and reporting against PCPR, giving peace of mind and offering smooth charging experiences to First Bus’ fleet as well as partners and the public.
When infrastructure is shared, different tariffs are needed; in this case for First Bus’ fleet, fleet partners, and for the public. Fuuse comes with flexible tariff management which allows operators to quickly and easily set up user groups on different rates.
First Charge needed to offer a variety of payment options. Fuuse supports different payment types such as app payments, RFID and contactless.
Energy load management is an important part of the charging operation for First Bus. During the night, there are over 1,000 buses charging, and during the day, infrastructure is now shared and in use. Through Fuuse, First Bus can distribute available power effectively without overloading supply on the depot.
To inform strategy, First Bus need insight into how their infrastructure is being used and by who. Fuuse can integrate with other software to provide a single dashboard for charging data to flow through.
The Fuuse team recently ran a webinar during which attendees were asked what the future of charging for fleet is, 67% of respondents answered with ‘shared infrastructure’. First Bus’ Head of Campaign Strategy, John MacLean was a guest speaker at the webinar and expanded on the experience of sharing their infrastructure at the Glasgow depot. John highlighted some of the key benefits that the First Charge initiative offers, and how that helps boost infrastructure utilisation, including:
You can find out more about First Charge here.
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