Australian body builder Custom Coaches would be monitoring the moves by its parent company Alexander Dennis Limited which has just injected £40m (AUD $60m) into hybrid bus production.
ADL has 125 ‘Arrive and Go’ Enviro400 double decker hybrids in production consigned for service in Manchester, Yorkshire and London with operators Stagecoach, London United, London General and Metroline.
The ‘Arrive and-Go’ technology provides the capacity to shut the diesel engine down when vehicle speed drops below four mph (6.4km/h) and restarts when it rises above seven mph (11.2km/h).
A series of test vehicles operating in Manchester, London and Birmingham demonstrate a further six percent improvement on the 30 percent and 35 percent fuel and CO2 savings made with previous generation hybrids.
“We have always said the route to zero emissions is a progressive journey,” an ADL spokesman says.
“Together with our technology partner BAE Systems we see this as another important step along the way.
“We remain convinced that series hybrid is the only technology currently offering an incremental path to zero emission buses that are economic and can perform to the gruelling 14-hour work cycles expected of them.
“Our next step is extended zero emissions, which will deliver further fuel savings.”
ADL’s aim is to run on pure electric power with a regenerating bus fit for purpose.
“No recharging every few hours, or plug-in overnight, simply a ‘Virtual Electric’ that delivers what it promises,” the ADL spokesman says.
The move from ‘Arrive and Go’ technology to ‘Virtual Electric’ mode will not require hardware changes, say ADL and BAE.
ADL has also confirmed in parallel with its hybrid technology investment it is also forging ahead with a major on-route recharging project in the United Kingdom.
A £3.2m (AUD$4.8m) joint initiative involving ADL, BAE Systems, battery manufacturers Axeon and Strathclyde University is now underway with a view to pilot operations being introduced early in 2014.
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