They don't make 'em like they use to

[LuckyChow]

We had an interesting visitor at work last week.  Thought some of you guys might enjoy a look-see.











Definitely not your grandads 8V71.




Coolant lines and sight glass over to the right.




Here's the air compressor for the bus.  I've never seen a setup like this, but it seems to work good.



According to the rep it has a range of approximately 35 - 40 miles.  It's made for a circulator type service.  It recharges in about 5-7 minutes.  Current pricing is ball park $750,000.  Umm, how many to you want? 

[niles500]

Zero emissions my @$# LOL

[Jeremy]

Laughable that they'd build an 'advanced' bus yet only give the driver a lap belt

Jeremy

[Oonrahnjay]

Laughable that they'd build an 'advanced' bus yet only give the driver a lap belt
Jeremy 

     I never saw any kind of seat belt on a milk float, Jeremy!  Pretty much the same thing.

[blue_goose]

Disney in Florida tried one about a year and half ago.  It didn't have any emission, but the charging truck that followed it sure did.
Jack

[Jeremy]

     I never saw any kind of seat belt on a milk float, Jeremy!  Pretty much the same thing.

I almost mentioned milk floats myself, but I wasn't sure whether they really existed in America and so whether people would understand the term. Hopefully this bus is a tad faster than a milk float anyway 

Jeremy

[CrabbyMilton]

Transit buses have become the epitome of politically correct poster brats in terms of environmental improvement for many years now and most are not designed to last beyond their 12 year cycle unless they are completely refurbished by their second owner. Transits are clearly moving toward hybrid or 100% electric so expect more ot this. Although there are many clean diesel transits too so not all is lost. We have several here in Milwaukee. They are NEW FLYER with CUMMINS engines and they are almost quieter than some cars and they seem to have good pep too.

[Oonrahnjay]

I almost mentioned milk floats myself, but I wasn't sure whether they really existed in America and so whether people would understand the term. Hopefully this bus is a tad faster than a milk float anyway 

Jeremy 

       I don't think that many Americans would understand the term - AFAIK they don't exist over here.  Those who lived just down the road from Unigate Dairies in Wolverhampton for years (and saw them being towed home daily) would.

[Jeremy]

They can be quite sexy nowadays (and deliver mail too):



Jeremy

[LuckyChow]

Hey, thanks for posting the pic.  I've never seen anything like that before.  I suppose it's all electric?

[Oonrahnjay]

They can be quite sexy nowadays (and deliver mail too):    Jeremy   

     Oh, I liked them much better when you could see the banks of batteries hung under the milk platform -- you could get a good look at them as they were slowly towed back to the dairy by the flat-bed lorries.  The old people in Wolverhampton said that they could remember them being towed back to the dairy by a pair of horses!

[muldoonman]

A $750,000, 40 mile range bus and with the ac and headlights on about 150 feet or until the end of the block. I think every tree hugger should have at least 1.

PS,
My Silver Series fuel gobblin 8V92 TA posted this without my knowledge.

[sparkplug188]

Hmmm... A new diesel city bus costs $300,000 to 450,000.  Sounds like it will take quite a long time to recoup the upfront cost.  That battery pack will probably need to be replaced every year to sustain a 40 mile range. A hybrid car battery pack costs $5,000.  That bus battery pack has to be several times more expensive.  I am all for energy efficent vehicles, when they make financial sense. At $750,000, I don't think that bus will ever make financial sense.

[Jeremy]

Hey, thanks for posting the pic.  I've never seen anything like that before.  I suppose it's all electric?

Yes, all electric but quite old tech - they don't need to be fast or have much range, so good-old lead-acid - none of that lithium-ion malarky. The purpose of being electric is for quietness - don't want all those respectable suburbanites being woken-up by their milk being delivered in the early morning.

Regarding the bus - I completely agree generally about technological advances having to make financial sense as well as being better for the environment - there is an extra element with transit buses in terms of public health however. The issue of the long-term health problems caused by diesel exhaust particulates is becoming a big thing in Europe at least, and there are all sorts of studies being carried out that show that the air quality in cities is dangerously bad, in very large part due to all those big diesel bus and truck engines trundling about. So electric buses make sense for that reason - and in cities like London you aren't even allowed to drive into the city in a commercial vehicle any more unless your engine meets the latest low-emission standards and has particulate traps and all the rest of it

Jeremy

[Jon]

It won't be long before some wizard will come up with the new idea to string electric cables above the streets so electric buses can operate on electric and range will not be an issue as long as the bus remains under the wire.




never mind..........I guess that has already been done.