Dutch e-Traction bus combines series hybrid setup with wheel motors
At this point, hybrid buses really aren't anything new. Anyone living in a city with a bus system of any size has probably seen or ridden on a hybrid bus at some point. Most of the thousands of hybrid transit buses in service today are of the parallel variety similar in architecture to the Toyota Prius. Dutch firm e-Traction has developed a series hybrid bus using wheel motors. The system uses an engine driving a generator to produce electricity for a battery that powers the motors. Compared to parallel hybrids like the General Motors Two Mode system, the series hybrid eliminates the weight and complexity issues of a transmission. For an application like a bus, the added unsprung mass of the wheel motors doesn't really impact the ride and handling the way it would in a car. Parallel hybrid buses boost mileage by about 25-30 percent while a series hybrid can push that to 50 percent.
Efficiency is boosted further by having a GPS system input that shuts down the generator and lowers the power when operating in congested areas where less speed is needed.
[Source: Technology Review]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rain 8:51AM (3/27/2009)
So,why isn't this technology being used in passenger cars?
Small diesel engine powering a Generac which charges the batteries which drive inboard motors connected to the wheels by half-shafts.
We went to the moon forty years ago and electric cars still have no more range than the electric car of 100 years ago?
What are They teaching in college these days? For cripes sake!
Reply