Bus of the future, no DD

[Kwajdiver]

It won't be long, we're not going to need the ole DD's.  Our buses will run on batteries and electric motors.  Just think if you could run your bus on a 10kw gen site.

Check out this website.

www.adurasystems.com/Adura/Adura.html

Bill
Man is it HOT here.

[Airbag]

That's nifty but most of us Hillbillies can't afford a bus until it is at least 30 years or more old. Will one of these scooters still be on the road in 30 plus years? Not likely. To get something that size to work on electric power it will have to be very light weight meaning composite construction. Not many folks know this but you cannot take a composite anything and recycle it. It becomes hazmat and a liability. I know this being involved with the all carbon fiber Starships that were being scrapped. They had to be cut up and burned in a special facility and still there was tremendous waste left over after combustion. Our buses we drive now are very recyclable and have scrap value.

[NJT5047]

Hybrid intra (?) city coaches are already being used.    They are incredibly expensive initially.  
A bit of battery powered umph would have been useful to me last Tuesday....climbing Saluda River on I-26 just inside North Carolina.   A 'nucular' powerplant would be better yet...no fuel for...what...10 years?  
Oh well.  2nd gear is a wonderful thing.   Get to see the scenery...really good.    
Anyway.  Our old 2 strokes will be around to the horizon.  Too expensive to do otherwise.  
The only real threat to 2 strokes is the federal government.  The day could come when operating large RVs is considered 'bad form' and like..really un-green.  We could become targets for shame.   I feel the pain already.   I'm working on my third tank of fuel this month too!   The fuel prices are making for a lot of summer fun!  That's how much 'pain' I'm feeling...  
Ain't no hybrid or electric in my future, but a 400 HP 4 stroke would be soo nice.   Zip up those mountains!
While I wouldn't change out a 2 stroke for fuel mileage, I would for the power.   We just returned from Cherokee, NC.  There are a couple of grades that just drag the old bus down.  I did pass a truck on the uphill...screaming along in 2nd gear.  Cool.  
One good thing...climbing mountains proves that my 22 year old cooling system is still working.  Ran up the mountainside for 7 miles in 2nd and 3rd gear and very little change in temps.  
Bill, it's HOT up here too!   Been in the 90s for a while.  We're going dry camping the week of the 4th ...hope the temps abate a little!  

JR

[NJT5047]

Our buses we drive now are very recyclable and have scrap value.

I knew my bus was valuable!   
That's interesting about composites...never would'a thought that they were not easily recycled? 

[Jeremy]

I recycle composites all the time - a great advantage of the material is that you can chop them up and recombine them into new laminates.

I do it to save money, but it is labour intensive and the way I do it certainly wouldn't be viable on a commercial basis - but that isn't to say that ways won't be found to make it viable in the future. As the cost of raw materials goes ever upwards, and the supply of scrap composites increase, I guarentee that there will be a huge 'composite recycling' industry in years to come. Remember, they used to say car tyres could never be recycled as well, and now old tyres are profitably used in dozens of ways (including as a source of fuel, incientally, which is something composites would also be excellent for)

Jeremy

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Bill,

This is how Formula 1 race teams camp... Totally mobile and are set-up, torn down, and transported to a different country every week...

Though you need at least 50 men and an endless pocketbook to make it happen...

Nick-

[belfert]

Even if diesel engines stick around we still won't be seeing DD engines in most buses.  Diamler has decided that the DD series of engines will only go in vehicles manufactured by Diamler owned entities.  Setra is about the only highway coach that will have DD engines unless Diamler owns another coach manufacturer.

I suppose some of the coaches built on a Freightliner chassis could have DD engines too, but those barely qualify as highway coaches.