All-electric bus company is going places - Angus Robertson

Inter-city electric coach venture Ember has boosted its fleet thanks to a £5.6 million loan from Triodos Bank UK

The transport startup launched in Scotland in 2020, with two coaches operating its first route between Edinburgh and Dundee. Today, Ember’s network also includes services to destinations including Glasgow, Stirling and Kinross.

The service allows users to request a pickup from their location within a certain distance of the bus route via an app. Thousands across Scotland are already using the environmentally friendly service, which founders have said has been the best location to start due to the size and variability of routes to trial the service, and thanks to a more climate-conscious business focus encouraged by the Scottish Government.

Ember’s success is a demonstration of what can be achieved with commitment and hard work, even if all you have is an idea. Indeed, speaking about the company’s early days, co-founder Keith Bradbury Ember talked about beginning the venture with only a single vehicle. “In 2019, we didn’t have a web domain, we didn’t have anything, actually. We approached these companies and told them that we’d like to buy one electric coach because that’s all we had money for. Obviously, when you say you want to buy one electric coach, no one takes you seriously. Some companies laughed in our faces.”

Well, having received funding for coaches from Transport for Scotland using the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZeb), and now secured millions from the financial sector, as the old adage goes: look who’s laughing now.