A hybrid electric bus procurement programme in the US has been revealed as CALSTART’s Hybrid Truck Users Forum Small Hybrid Bus Working Group members selected the supplier team of StarTrans-Azure Dynamics for a 16 plus vehicle strategy.
The vehicles use the StarTrans Senator bus body, are 23ft long and feature the Ford E450 chassis and the Azure Dynamics Balance parallel electric hybrid system with the Ford 5.4l engine and the five-speed automatic TorqShift transmission.
The system includes engine-off at idle and at below 20mph while there is also electronically supporting key ancillary functions for features such as braking, air conditioning and power steering.
The buses are part of a national pilot programme to speed the commercialisation of these vehicles which are believed to offer 30-40 per cent reductions in fuel use as well as an accompanying 30 per cent reduction in emissions.
The hybrid buses will be in operation in at least nine fleets in various climates, duty cycles and geographies. Each vehicle has a passenger capacity of 14 riders with two wheelchair positions. Their performance will be demonstrated by chassis dynamometer and field testing.
