Wrightbus

Wright GB Kite

The Wright GB Kite is a range of full-size zero-emission single-deck buses manufactured by Wrightbus since 2022. Similar in body style to the diesel powered Wright GB Hawk, the GB Kite is an integral design that can be built as a battery electric vehicle, the Electroliner, and as a fuel cell electric vehicle, the Hydroliner.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Design

The GB Kite range was launched in September 2021, following the launch of the double-deck Wright StreetDeck Electroliner and Hydroliner range earlier in the year. The Electroliner has a maximum range of 250 miles (400 km) with the top option of a 567kwh battery, charged through conventional DC charging or pantograph charging. The Hydroliner has a maximum range of 640 miles (1,030 km), powered with either a 70 or 100kwh fuel cell system produced by Ballard Power Systems in combination with a 35 kg (77 lb) or 50 kg (110 lb) hydrogen tank. Regular production of both GB Kite variants was fully underway by December 2022. Wrightbus announced the launch of a second-generation Electroliner driveline in November 2025, which primarily saw Forsee Power's NMC batteries replaced with slimmer 442 or 528 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries manufactured by CATL, extending the GB Kite Electroliner's range up to 300 miles (480 km) or 375 miles (604 km). Other upgrades for the GB Kite Electroliner include a 75-minute 380kW 'rapid charging' time compared to the previous three hours, a new Voith Electrical Drive System and a new Grayson Thermal Systems HVAC system compliant with Transport for London standards.

Operators

=== Hydroliner === The first orders for GB Kites was placed in November 2021, with Metrobus ordering 20 Hydroliner vehicles for use on the Fastway network. The first buses from this order, also being the first production Hydroliners, began entering service with Metrobus on the Fastway network in April 2023, with the order for 20 completed later in June. By 2024, however, up to two thirds of the Fastway Hydroliner fleet were not being used in regular service due to the Health and Safety Executive not signing off on a liquid hydrogen fuelling system at Metrobus' Crawley depot. Despite this, a further order for 23 Kite Hydroliners is to be delivered in late 2024 for both Fastway and conventional Metrobus services in Surrey. In December 2025 Wrightbus asked Metrobus at Crawley to suspend operation of their entire Hydroliner fleet of 42 vehicles, following a fire in one bus on 2 December 2025. The GB Kite Hydroliner has proven most popular in Germany, with Wrightbus set to deliver up to 130 in left-hand drive configuration to German operators by the end of 2025. A first batch of 31 Hydroliners were delivered to Cologne municipal operator Regionalverkehr Köln during 2024, Wrightbus' first European order since the bus builder was rescued from bankruptcy, with an additional 29 due for delivery in 2025. Twelve were delivered to WestVerkehr in April 2025 for service in Geilenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia, while due for delivery during 2025 include an order for 28 Hydroliners placed in February 2024 by Saarbahn for service in Saarbrücken, 46 for Cottbus municipal Cottbusverkehr, and five for Vestische Straßenbahn in Herten. In May 2022, Wrightbus entered a deal to supply the Australian bodybuilder Volgren with two GB Kite Hydroliner chassis for the company to body. These two

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