Optare

Visitors arrive here often having typed “Optare rumours” into a search engine.

This time last year, Optare had relaunched itself. It also was licking its wounds after the Solo+’s NEC debut. The much trumpeted unveiling resulted in something of a shock: an upright design that, although recognisably Solo along its flank, caught the opposite of the industry’s imagination. It proved to be a talking point for all the wrong reasons. How could the manufacturer of Britain’s most popular minibus have blundered so, especially since it collaborated with the industry in the development of the original Solo and 1997 launch? And was Optare serious about those seats?

The other style mock-up on display, the Rapta double deck, has also been quietly retired before it had a chance to gain orders or interest, though this lasted on paper a little longer. This would’ve seen an all-new integral, with all the weight savings that that implies. It would probably have put paid to the Olympus, though why go to the expense of developing a new decker when new Opatre already has the former East Lancs/Darwen design? Optare is now believed to be pursuing a double deck integral via its Olympus; if Optare is to be believed, it could soon be available on a conventional chassis or, from January 2010, an integral. And after some uncertainty, to be fair, the Olympus is gaining ground and approval. The design is a considerable improvement on many a recent East Lancs decker, particualrly the Myllenium Lowlander.

In December 2008, Optare’s chief executive resigned and the company’s shares tumbled. Hardly surprising, then, that there’s been consolidation. Optare’s former Rotherham works closed on 13 November 2009. Such a consolidation means that Solo and Versa are produced & finished solely at Leeds and these days, the facility can, apparently, get a little crowded. The Olympus, meanwhile, is the only model under build at the East Lancs unit at Blackburn, where Optare releases one complete vehicle a week, if that. There was talk of the Tempo moving to Blackburn.

As the rest of us know and Optare understands, the double deck market isn’t what it once was. May be hybrid technology will be the key to unlock integral Olympus sales. It will be interesting to see what power pack Optare offers in terms its integrals. The jury’s definitely out on the Solo EV all-electric battery powered bus. The single deck Tempo hybrid is showing promise although space precluded the Tempo appearing at this year’s Coach & Bus Live 2009. This week, Optare announced its first dual-fuel order, converting 11 Lincolnshire buses to run on diesel & bio-methane. Expect a carbon reduction in excess of 50 per cent, making the design eligible for the government's £30mil green bus fund. Bio-methane comes from either landfill gas or anaerobic digestion, apparently.