tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432323264902617108.post6733358970028480311..comments2024-03-25T22:17:35.616+00:00Comments on Public Transport Experience: What IS a Streetlite Hybrid?fatbusblokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06833340546527596517noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432323264902617108.post-40943899657799154302014-01-21T11:10:19.332+00:002014-01-21T11:10:19.332+00:00Slightly disappointing, as one of the gains at the...Slightly disappointing, as one of the gains at the point of use of a "real" hybrid is that they can crawl in traffic purely on the battery, with the engine only kicking in when things speed up. This is a big improvement in pollution terms in a city where such things matter.<br /><br />The "flybrid" is an interesting one, as that's the same thing as the Parry People Mover rail vehicle, used on the Stourbridge branch, no?Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11739094192244593533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432323264902617108.post-27179590069001199312014-01-21T08:45:36.939+00:002014-01-21T08:45:36.939+00:00As with most buses the calculation of total standi...As with most buses the calculation of total standing capacity is a theoretical figure that is basically taken from taking the weight of a vehicle with a full seated load from the maximum design/authorised weight and then dividing that by the legally defined average weight of a passenger to give the number of standees allowed. In practice this tends to be a bit of a theoretical number though it is nice to know that Wright actually checked they could actually fit them in the vehicle (it is unlikely to happen in the real world as it requires co-operation from everyone to get them to spread themselves around the bus properly).<br /><br />There are two types of diesel-electric hybrid: The Series (as used by ADL & Optare in the Solo & Versa) is the one where the engine simply charges the batteries which are then used to power the vehicle, this is best suited to urban work with lots of stopping & starting. The alternative is the Parallel system (as used by Volvo & Optare in the Tempo) which uses a smaller than usual engine to power the vehicle most of the time but also charging a set of batteries which provide additional power at times of extra need and, if the driver is gentle on the accelerator, will normally power the vehicle away from stationary to a certain speed (somewhere around 15mph) where the engine kicks in which gives it the ability to cover more interurban work though still best suited to more urbanised duties. It is the parallel system that has the slightly strange sensation of the engine kicking in & out, particularly on the Volvo where it does so with a noticeable thump. Experience with hybrids is showing that the financial payback is there in theory (the lingering question is over battery life) but the up-front cost is still too high to justify it - if fuel price goes up further the calculation changes.<br /><br />As well as the Micro Hybrid Wright are working on a second cheap hybrid option the first vehicles of which should be appearing this year. This is the Flybrid system which uses a flywheel being powered up as part of the breaking system that then releases this power during acceleration. It provides better fuel efficiency than the micro hybrid but less than a full hybrid, however the cost increase for fitting a Flybrid is substantially less than a normal hybrid and not a great increase over the cost of a normal bus.dwarfer1979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432323264902617108.post-8566037721481311652014-01-21T07:20:38.390+00:002014-01-21T07:20:38.390+00:00With all that saving in heat, there ought to be so...With all that saving in heat, there ought to be some left over to provide the heating for the passenger compartment. I hope that these buses, unlike almost all of the London fleet will have a heating control in the hands of the driver. In London, it's necessary for the depot engineers to do something technical to switch the saloon heaters to Hot or Cold.<br /><br />It usually takes them six months to get round to it, by which time, we're in the wrong season!Petras409https://www.blogger.com/profile/04036674245734936601noreply@blogger.com