100% electric coach

[Jeremy]

I'm as much a capitalist free-marketeer as anyone (and have had the business career to prove it) but the problem is that it's not appropriate to leave technological development entirely to the fate of short-term profit seeking. Would anyone seriously have advocated leaving the development of the nuclear power industry to short-term profit seekers for example?

Governments need to show LEADERSHIP in the strategic adoption of new technologies and not merely follow behind what the current market (which knows no better) says it wants. But there are far too many old reactionaries (many of them driving 60-year-old buses) who seem to think that any policy which strategically supports the development of a particular technology is somehow tantamount to Communist ideology.

Yes tax-payer money will be spent, and yes much of it will be wasted. And yes some of these developments will turn out to be dead-ends and in 20 years we will all look back and think that we were idiots to go that route. But it's STILL right to take these gambles because some of them WILL come off and end-up giving almost unmeasureable benefits to the countries that took the risks. All power to the Chinese for having the balls to take their electric vehicle gamble, and all power to them if it comes off

Finally, imagine if, after 20 years and trillions of Yen spent, the Chinese Government's support for electric vehicle development turns-out to have been a colossal cock-up and dead-end:- What would the outcome of that actually be? That the Chinese Government had injected trillions of Yen into it's economy and provided high-tech employment for thousands of tax-paying companies and well-paid jobs of tens of thousands of tax-paying workers? And no-doubt have created technological spin-offs in dozens of other areas? And all that would somehow have been bad for China?

Jeremy

[buswarrior]

Gee, Jeremy

That sounds an awful lot like what the US government did in the guise of "defence" and "space" spending since before any of us was born?

The appearance of these matters is different, depending whether you are inside or outside the influence?

Will the future think fondly of us or condemn us?

Anyone planted a figurative olive tree recently?

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[Jim Blackwood]

Personally I think the government should be spending some of that money on ME! After all, I created the first practical high volume, high speed metal deposition 3D printer, you would think they would be knocking on my door. But that's not the way the world works and you won't see it in Best Buy anytime soon. Sorry about that.

Jim

[MagnoliaBus]

I think the problem is not with the bus, technically it's already good.
The problem is with the use and infrastructure.
For a city transit operation it is rather easy to assign the bus journey according to battery pack capacity (80 kW - 480 kW), altough you to need upgrade the bus depot in order to have enough electric capacity to charge all the bus at night (when the're not running).
Now, what about all the RV parks having to upgrade every lots in order for RV vehicle to charge... how many will have the cash for this massive upgrade ? Remember that with an electric RV, you will not be able to go boondocking, unless you wait long enough to replenish the most likely 400+ kW battery pack... Will you burn diesel in a generator in order to charge the battery pack ?
Electric vehicle is good for city use or regualr intercity usage.
Remember that i work for a city transit agency and we just bought 1200 hybrid buses ( to be delivered between 2019-2023). Since we keep our buses for 16 years...we'll be buying diesel fuel for the next 20 years !!!
As for the chinese buses...just look at Albuquerque city web site.