Electric Demonstrator the Third

[Chris]

Nu-Venture's latest electric demonstrator is GV25 WNR, a Karsan e-Jest. It hasn't been easy to track this down this week with the weather conditions and low light, but I managed to capture it on camera and tick off the trio on Thursday evening (11th). 

As it only has a limited seating capacity (12, 10 if a wheelchair is carried - per manufacturer - I haven't confirmed it myself), it has so far only been used on the last northbound 130 at 1755 (to Hempstead Valley, thereafter on request), where it is seen arriving at the bus stop, then leaving via Sharsted Way. The pictures may not be perfect, but worth expending the energy to get there in time!  

The e-Jest (https://evm.uk/model-range/karsan-e-jest/) has been available since 2018, originally only in left-hand drive. As far as I can make out, only two demonstrators are available for the UK and Ireland, and none yet in service use, although there are some RHD examples in Japan. The destination box has also been enlarged, presumably for PSVAR compliance: having seen some pictures online of examples in service elsewhere, the bus could be on top of you and you'd still need a step and a magnifying glass to see where it was going!  

The demonstrators have only been available since earlier this summer, and it will be interesting to see whether the model gains favour in the UK market. 12 seats (including two tip-ups) may be a little low for many service operators (Go-Coach's Sigmas seat 15), but does seem like it could be a useful size for DRT-type operations.

All in all, it's been great to see some interesting vehicle types in service in the Club area this summer. Long may it continue! 

Chris