Nazareth Pennsylvania gets first PHEV school bus
The second of nineteen plug-in hybrid school buses being supplied by Advanced Energy is going to the Nazareth Area School District in Pennsylvania. Nazareth is the first district in Pennsylvania to get one of these new buses which are built IC Corporation and Enova Systems. The bus will go into service in the fall for the next school year.
The buses use an International diesel V-8 combined with a hybrid powertrain provided by Enova. The hybrid system uses a 22.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack along with the transmission and electric motor in a parallel configuration. Because of the duty cycle of a school bus (a lot of starting and stopping to pickup and drop off kids) they estimate that the fuel economy will be improved by 70-100 percent.
[Source: GreenCarCongress]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
wierdkid 8:39PM (4/26/2007)
what a crock! plug-ins are the most retarded idea ever. Yes lets run the bus on electricity so we produce all the same emissions just in a different place. They do make dual-mode hybrid buses that work the same way but recover lost energy like a traditional hybrid (central NY's centro just purchased several), not to mention compressed natural gas buses which are cleaner than diesel.
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Michael 11:10PM (4/26/2007)
Plug in Hybrids would shine in Washington state where the majority of the power is hydro produced.
*not the most retarded idea ever, did you miss the part where it said "70-100% fuel savings"???
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Tormod Henne 9:21AM (4/27/2007)
to # 1:
"we produce all the same emissions just in a different place.." Keeping the fumes away from our school children could very well be reason enough.. but wait, there is more:
"work the same way but recover lost energy.." Most EVs can do regenerative braking, this is not a hybrid only thing.
Besides, using energy from a stationary power station generally yields better efficiency because there are no horrible cold start periods and no idling. Modern gas fired plants can get 60% efficiency! Go PHEV!
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cu 11:15PM (4/29/2007)
....and not to mention -> Electricity can be producted with resources in the United States. You're not financing murdering terrorists when you pay for electricity rather than oil.
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Chris M 6:06PM (4/27/2007)
Many school districts have a lot of schoolbus routes, particularly in rural and semi-rural areas. Most of those routes are relatively short, many under 20 miles, well within the range of an electric bus. For those routes, an electric bus could do morning commute to school, then recharge for the afternoon commute home, then an overnight charge for the next morning. Lower operating costs and less maintenance would quickly pay back the initial purchase price.
A few hybrid or regular busses could be retained for longer routes and field trips.
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James T. Nelson 3:48PM (5/23/2007)
The biggest advanage of any hybrid is the regenrative braking. I aggree with the source of fuel and cleaner at electric plants.
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