Technologies - USA - Have Hybrid Buses Turned the Corner?
Torrance, CA,usa -Metro Magazine Exchange, by Joey Campbell -12 Dec 2005: -- In the early 1990s, Toyota Motor Corp. decided that the then unappreciated concept of powering a vehicle with both a conventionally fueled mechanical engine and a battery-powered electric drive system had a role to play in passenger transportation... As the idea of hybrid-electric engines gained attention in the automotive market, the technology also slowly caught on with the transit industry. Today, an estimated 700 hybrid-electric buses are operating revenue service in the U.S. and Canada, with 400 more scheduled for delivery. Countless more agencies are giving serious consideration to these promising vehicles... Obstacles to implementation: There are some significant questions about hybrid technology. Probably the biggest concern, as indicated by the NVAC-FTA report, is the life and stability of energy storage systems... One answer to this dilemma is the emerging technology of ultracapacitors... As for training and infrastructure, hybrid vehicles require very few changes to existing practices. According to Collet, the actual new equipment training for drivers typically lasts all of five minutes. He also says the increased usage of hybrid technologies in passenger cars is helping push forward this technology in the transit industry...
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