San Francisco Municipal Railway Orders 56 Hybrid Electric Buses

[jpak]

http://www.enn.com/alt.html?id=305

August 22, 2005 — By ENN

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Municipal Railway has ordered 56 hybrid diesel electric buses from the DaimlerChrysler's transit bus brand Orion, with an option for 56 more units. The Orion VII diesel-electric 40-foot buses, similar to a large and growing fleet of Orion hybrid buses in service in New York City, promise significant emissions reductions and fuel savings compared to standard diesel buses, and also outperform conventionally powered vehicles.

Mississauga, Ontario-based Orion Bus Industries, along with partner BAE Systems, producer of the HybriDrive(R) series hybrid propulsion system, will deliver the Orion VII model buses in 2006. These buses, the first production hybrid diesel-electric units ordered by a California transit system, will be certified to standards for diesel electric hybrid buses recently adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

The order also is the fourth largest ever for hybrid buses. MTA New York City Transit, which is assembling the world's largest hybrid fleet, with 325 units, also uses the Orion VII model. This spring, the Toronto Transit Commission placed an order for 150 buses of the same configuration.

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Compared to standard diesel propulsion, the hybrid units will provide 25 percent to 35 percent better fuel economy while greatly reducing emissions: 90 percent less particulate matter, 40 percent less NOx, and 30 percent fewer greenhouse gases. Drivers will enjoy faster acceleration and customers will experience a quieter, smoother ride free of the frequent transmission shifts encountered in conventional buses.

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[phantom power]

1. Good application.

Hybrids are perfect for that kind of start/stop environment. And I assume the diesels can run on bio-diesel, which means they aren't technically dependent on fossil fuels.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Another hybrid bus being tested in the Netherlands

Instead of having one electric motor, each of the 4 wheels in this bus is a self contained electric motor which draws current from a battery pack which is itself continuously recharged by a small diesel generator.

And that's what makes ‘the whisperer´revolutionary; a ring functioning as a wheel. By just putting a tire on it you can drive a bus, a car, anything with it. Since the wheel is in fact the engine, no axles or any other friction-producing and therefore energy-wasting mechanical parts are needed.

Even the transmission is unnecessary; if you want to go faster you just run more electricity through the engine. And it works really well while braking, when the in-wheel engine works as a generator, produces electricity to charge the batteries.

The power to drive the Apeldoorn bus is stored in a big battery pack that sits in a steel drawer under the bus. Changing the batteries every time they're drained would be impractical, as would be taking the bus out of service for recharging them for hours on end. Instead, a small diesel-powered generator built into what used to be the bus's engine bay continuously charges the whole battery pack.

Since in-wheel engines are so highly efficient, the generator's diesel engine can be very small, about the size of the compact city car's engine. Because charging the batteries is all it needs to do, the tiny engine consumes very little fuel and can run continuously at a speed of 1700 revs per minute, the most efficient rev count.

http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/science/031215wheel.html

More details on the etraction "motor in a wheel" concept:

A self-propelled electrically powered wheel, operating at more than 90% energy efficiency, with optional 180° electric or mechanical steering including suspension, ride-height control and shock dampening, delivers up to 15,000 Nm of direct drive traction at the only place where it matters,.....at the wheel.

Only one moving part!

The genius of TheWheel™ lies in the complete absence of power transfer through gearing of any kind and the use of an electromotor in the opposite manner in which it is customarily used. Usually the center of an electromotor spins around and the housing remains stationary. In the case of TheWheel™ this is reversed. The exterior of the motor, the rotor - affixed with permanent magnets on the inside, spins around and the stator, which contains the electromagnets and remains stationary. The tire is mounted directly to exterior of the direct drive motor. The greater the diameter of the motor within the wheel, the greater the torque. For smaller applications an external direct drive engine has been developed delivering virtually all the same benefits.

http://e-traction.com/TheWheel.htm

[phantom power]

3. I give them extra credit for actually trade-marking TheWheel(tm)

[skids]

4. heheh. Yeah that took some balls. n/t

[Coastie for Truth]

5. Like MS Windows and MS Word and MS Internet Explorer - Balls

[Coastie for Truth]

6. VW published some papers on that in the '90's

--hub mounted electric motors at each wheel.

Makes a lot of sense.