Green Zero Emissions Eco Friendly Electric buses increase in numbers in the progressive UK. Press release from Optare... The Government’s £30 million Green Bus Fund is providing backing for Optare’s innovative Eco Drive programme. Following an announcement today of how the fund is to be spent, it is anticipated that orders will be placed for a total of over 70 fully electric and hybrid Optare buses. These would be worth in total over £12 million and would be delivered to operators across the UK during the next two years. As the only maker of a practical full size zero emission electric bus, Optare is in a unique position to contribute to the Government’s strategy to introduce low carbon buses to British streets. The Optare Solo EV, launched earlier this year and demonstrated to the Prime Minister in Downing Street at the announcement of the Green Bus Fund, has attracted interest from bus operators in the UK and Europe seeking the ultimate in clean transportation for urban environments.
In a pilot program, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of NYC has operated 10 new hybrid-electric buses in the last two years and it is expected to add 125 new buses by the end of this year. Exhaust gas pollution of hybrid-electric is substantially lower than that of equivalent diesel buses. Fuel consumption is always less than that of diesel buses. The difference, however, in fuel consumption between hybrid-electric and conventional diesel buses deteriorates by 19% during the summer months. It is suspected that the root cause of this is the reduction in performance of the 46 batteries used in the hybrid-electric buses because of increased temperature in their compartment. A time-dependent analysis of the convective heat transfer patterns inside the batteries compartment has been carried out which indicated the need for more elaborate temperature control of the batteries compartment.
