On Thu, 16 Jul 2015 20:09:00 +0100
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 16 Jul 2015 10:37:01 +0000 (UTC), y wrote:
Anyone know how that trial with the single deck electric battery buses around
Victoria is going?
There are two Chinese BYD buses on the 507 and 521 but one has oos for
a while now. Not sure why.
Two more buses - this time Irizar all electrics - have been ordered.
One has arrived and entered service with the second not yet seen.
Why hasn't Wrightbus come up with an offering? Seems to me they've been
caught napping over this.
Even though the trial has not concluded the new contracts for the 507
and 521 were announced yesterday. London General has, unsurprisingly,
retained both routes. The big surprise is that the fleet of Mercedes
buses will be replaced with new all electric single deckers. The make
of the buses has not been announced yet. It will be interesting to
see what is bought.
It would be interesting to see if they could cope with steep hills on routes
without a serious reduction in range. Highgate and hampstead spring to mind.
One would hope they use regenerative braking though so perhaps it wouldn't
be too bad.
Still, they'll be a welcome addition. Far better than the hybrid buses which
seem to be hybrid virtually in name only with their diesel engines operating
90% of the time in my experience.
--
Spud