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Post by Volvo on Jan 12, 2014 1:21:07 GMT
On a whole electric buses do sound interesting
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Post by snowman on Feb 12, 2014 20:08:34 GMT
An article in Route one mag mentions ADL building 8 electric buses, would seem some are for Scotland, but also some for London, could this be the mystery extra 2 electric buses for TfL that no-one knew the type, (there has been talk of 6 buses after the BYD pair, but only the 4 metrocity EVs were previously known). The new ADL ones are a version of the enviro350H route one article
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Post by ilovelondonbuses on Feb 19, 2014 23:34:58 GMT
I'm yet to catch these buses although I have seen one in Victoria the other day. They are quite a sight to see. I hope more are ordered in the future.
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Post by snoggle on Mar 26, 2014 22:06:55 GMT
According to an article in Bus and Coach Week TfL are about to go to the market to tender for 4 diesel electric hybrid double deck buses with induction charging. Apparently Mike Weston of TfL has said it is almost certain that the buses will run on route 69 as TfL own both Walthamstow and Canning Town Bus Stations where the charging equipment would be installed. I imagine West Ham Garage will also get suitable charging and maintenance upgrades for the buses. The garage location is also very handy for Canning Town. Looks like more stuff to (potentially) keep Mr Nicholass busy. Well if they do end up on route 69 it'll be a breeze for me to see them. I think we've already had a comment that the 2 extra single decker electric buses will probably go to route 312 with Arriva London.
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Post by Volvo on Mar 26, 2014 23:23:09 GMT
Any chance they could be E400s?
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Post by sid on Mar 27, 2014 9:47:10 GMT
The 312 seems a logical choice, its really just a supplementary service to the 197 anyway since the long term diversion started. The 412 would be a good testing ground for any double deckers with its hilly terrain. I assume the Stagecoach thinking is to keep the buses local to start with otherwise the 205 out of BW would seem a good candidate?
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Post by snoggle on Mar 27, 2014 15:06:17 GMT
Any chance they could be E400s? I guess it depends on exactly what Alexander Dennis are working on but I'd be amazed if they weren't looking at induction charging or similar. I would hazard a guess that one or two manufacturers might have something "up their sleeve" plus we might get a rogue bid from China. bYD must be aware of what TfL might be considering for the future. Wrights have those Streetlites on test in MK so must be familiar with the technology. I also wonder what options the very long rumoured Optare double decker might have. Optare have provided a lot of electric single decks albeit without induction charging. You never know - it might not be induction charging with those plates in the ground. They might do overhead charging as has been used in China - the bus has a pantograph and charges under a gantry. Easy enough to install that kit at Canning Town and Walthamstow although the trees might get in the way at the latter location.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2014 21:14:46 GMT
Hounslow is expected to take delivery of 4 full electric Optare MetroCity's for use on the H98 route late Feb early March (date TBC). Two DLE's will be displaced from AV to pastures new. The garage will have overnight charge points fitted in the garage, with a fast charge point on the garage forecourt where the EV's will be used into rotation. The trial Solo EV deliver three rounders on a signal charge with spare battery capacity, however, no passengers were carried but the vehicle was tested under maximum battery drain conditions (the driver was sweating with the heating and blowers on full all day!). The MetroCity is larger that the Solo so will be interesting to see how the charge measures up.... Is there any news in regards to this?
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Apr 5, 2014 19:22:31 GMT
Is there a Time that we could expect more Information on the Double Decker Electrics for the 69?
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Post by snoggle on Apr 5, 2014 19:41:40 GMT
Is there a Time that we could expect more Information on the Double Decker Electrics for the 69? It'll be months yet as TfL are only just starting the procurement process. I would hazard a guess that it will be at least 6 months before a winning supplier is identified given this is new technology for London and for manufacturers. The place to keep on eye on are the TfL Board papers and the Commissioner's Report (both published on the TfL website). If there are any key updates they'll likely be mentioned there given the pressure to "green" the bus fleet and try to deal with the air pollution issue. The next Board meeting is in July - I think this is because there are local elections shortly and no announcements can be made during the election timetable. As always happy to be corrected by those with better inside info.
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Post by M1104 on Apr 5, 2014 23:42:31 GMT
Are the deckers total electric or virtual electric ... Not aware anyone is planning on produce a totally electric dd yet. Virtual electric reportly run under electric power 85% of the time. The article did not distinguish but I expect they will be virtual electric. I think that links back to what has been said in TfL Commissioner Reports over recent months. If I was asked to guess I suspect they may be Alexander Dennis products - whenever they get round to launching their next iteration of double decker. I believe it's long been rumoured that they are aiming to move things on from current hybrids. We shall find out in due course. Could the present hybrids not be converted to virtual electrics, say upon their refurbishments after a five year contract.... bearing in mind the costs.
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Post by M1104 on Apr 5, 2014 23:43:16 GMT
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Post by M1104 on Apr 6, 2014 10:48:09 GMT
"The first two all-electric Optare MetroCitys (YJ14 BBX, BBZ) arrived at Hounslow Garage in the past week. Four are due for route H98. Quality Line has a demonstrator MetroCity YJ14 PFY, pending delivery of their own ordered examples later in April."
Quoted from LOTS
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Post by M1104 on Apr 6, 2014 10:55:15 GMT
Regarding the charging infrastructure to be placed on each end of the routes, if the bus has to use one that is remote from the garage how long would it have to charge there for? Are the remote ones just for emergency backup purposes?
Another scenario to consider is what if the road is closed and the bus is forced on diversion to curtail elsewhere from the charging point.
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Post by snoggle on Apr 6, 2014 11:26:21 GMT
Regarding the charging infrastructure to be placed on each end of the routes, if the bus has to use one that is remote from the garage how long would it have to charge there for? Are the remote ones just for emergency backup purposes? Another scenario to consider is what if the road is closed all the bus is forced on diversion to curtail elsewhere from the charging point. I don't think anyone can really answer these questions until a particular design of vehicle is chosen and there is some clue about the performance characteristics of the vehicle itself, its range and the charging requirements. The other aspect must also be weight given the known issues with the hydrogen and BYD electric single decks. The 69 can be tremendously busy and using capacity restricted vehicles will not be popular with passengers or drivers. However you never make progress unless you test things! The little rechargeable Streetlites in Milton Keynes need to charge for about 10-15 minutes so an extra bus had to be added to the PVR on route 7. I wonder if a double decker would need longer? If so then some very clever scheduling will be needed to allow for that. Alternatively the electric deckers run as scheduled extras on top of the standard timetable as happened with the NB4Ls so they provide extra capacity but don't affect the core service if they can't run. The road diversion issue is a fair question but is probably unanswerable at this stage - you need the vehicle spec. If the buses have some form of diesel backup engine then they could in theory "rescue themselves" and get back to a garage or cover a diversionary route to reach either destination. I've certainly been on a bus that was marooned on Canning Town roundabout due to an incident. Thank goodness the driver was decent enough to allow us off the bus given no traffic was moving. We'd have been held captive for hours given how bad the traffic was.
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