According to inventor Hugh Frost’s own calculations, public bus occupancy in London only averages out at 20%, which makes them not as efficient as they should be as there are plenty of unused capacity. The idea is to use them to carry freight at off peak hours such as the evening and overnight so that ROI on the buses can be maximised.
When the loading area is dedicated to passengers, it can fit 90 seated passengers and 40 standing passengers, or 52 seated passengers with 98 standing passengers. In full freight configuration it can accumulate 35 europallets. An europallet is a standard size transport structure which measures 80cm by 120cm by 12cm.
The FreightBUS can be configured to be an EV or a fuel cell vehicle. Fuel cell stacks together with hydrogen tanks or EV batteries can be stored in the 200mm deep space in the main floor of the bus. It can use either a centralised motor or in-wheel motors. An 80% recharge is said to be possible in 1 minute, with a specialised charger of course.