Hev buses

[venom_20]

Has anyone ever gotten on a hev bus before? I rode one last week here in pittsburgh and it was a pretty interesting ride. The bus seemed like it didn't wanna shift to second gear half the time, and it seemed to lack power when the driver hit the gas. But after second gear it really moves. What i wanna know is how other ones perform compared to the one i rode, and what kind of trans are put into these buses.

[venom_20]

I Got a hold of a pic of one of our Hev buses. Notice the batteries on top compared to the other bus.

[inkybus]

< I just realized that our GE40LFs are HEVs- for some reason I only think of diesel electrics as HEVs. They drive pretty well and have amazing acceleration. The engine is not directly coupled to the vehicle drivetrain. It is connected to an electric motor, which provides power to the wheels. The system works well in frequent stop-and-go service because the electrically driven propulsion system has high torque at low speeds, providing smooth, fast acceleration. Most of the equipment required to support the bus, such as compressors, the HVAC system and air systems, are electrically powered.

[venom_20]

At high speeds, the bus is supposed to combine both the electric and diesel/gas motor too.

[busmancow]

Here at METS we have four brand new hybrid-electric Gillig Advantage Low-Floor buses. They have not been in service very long, but so far nobody here likes them. As a driver I dislike them because they are slow on take-off as our routes are very tight and hard to keep a schedule. The bus itself seems nice though. Maintenance has reported that our new hybrids are not consuming any less fuel than our conventional diesel Gillig Phantoms. These cost $465,000 each as compared to the $348,000 Phantoms we have ordered in the past, and not even living up to their expectations. I realize the technololgy is somewhat recent, but I am very disappointed with these buses. Every bus we got in had to be deadlined for nearly a month also because almost nothing on them would work. The ones we got in are reported to be the first of their kind in a 29ft length. I have however heard many good reports on the Orion hybrids and mostly good on the New Flyers. Ours are powered with the Allison/GM E-Tran hybrid propulsion system.