Electric bus undergoing tests in Florianópolis, Brazil

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Its frame is made by Mercedes-Benz, then converted to electric by Eletra. The body is made by Marcopolo. It's fitted with Lithium batteries and, unlike the trolleybuses with the powertronics supplied by Eletra that are operating commercially in São Paulo, this bus is fitted with solar panels. Maximum speed is governed to 80kmph, to give it a safety margin to operate on a highway stretch.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

[IMG]...
this bus is fitted with solar panels. Maximum speed is governed to 80kmph, to give it a safety margin to operate on a highway stretch.

That is (IMHO) too small an area of solar panels to power a bus for more than a couple of miles per day.

It will be enough to make a difference. But it is likely more efficient to put the solar panels (plus another 10X that many) on a building, or on the ground, and feed them into the grid .. or into a battery pack that recharges the bus after it gets to the end of it's daily route.

[oil pan 4]

Solar panels on a bus might be able to power the accessories and air conditioning during mid day for a few hours.

[Xist]

At least the roof provides a broad and flat surface, but why are there rails? Won't those block sunlight?

The other advantages of mounting the solar panels on the ground or a building is that they can track and should not have random trees, buildings, and tunnels randomly blocking the sun.

[redpoint5]

Well, you can't signal how green you are unless you provide 0.01% of your energy consumption via solar. Sure, it makes you 99.99% the same as everyone else, but it's surprising how much virtue is packed into such a small number.

[Hersbird]

Our little Montana city now has 9 full size electric buses. 5 years ago the university bought one, then added 2 more 2 years later, and this summer the city added 6 more zero fair to boot. I have yet to get a chance to ride one, the city ones have only been here a month. Ours are these guys
https://www.proterra.com/vehicles/ca...-electric-bus/

[redpoint5]

25 MPGe. That sounded low to me until I looked up the fuel economy of a modern ICE city bus... at 3 MPG!

Alright, buses should be hybrid at minimum, and probably BEV considering you don't need the maintenance headaches of an ICE and the cost of $1 per mile in fuel.

... so city buses are touted as being environmentally friendly, but you'd need 10 passengers to get the darn thing to 30 passenger miles per gallon. You need 17 people to make it as fuel efficient as a Prius with a single occupant, and completely fill it to make it as efficient as a Prius with 2 occupants.

City buses sound like an inferior mode of transportation considering they take you from where you don't live, and drop you off not quite where you need to go, on their own schedule, and don't save any fuel or money in the processes.

Average occupancy of a vehicle is 1.7 persons, while a city bus is 10, FYI.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

25 MPGe. That sounded low to me until I looked up the fuel economy of a modern ICE city bus... at 3 MPG!

Alright, buses should be hybrid at minimum, and probably BEV considering you don't need the maintenance headaches of an ICE and the cost of $1 per mile in fuel.

... so city buses are touted as being environmentally friendly, but you'd need 10 passengers to get the darn thing to 30 passenger miles per gallon. You need 17 people to make it as fuel efficient as a Prius with a single occupant, and completely fill it to make it as efficient as a Prius with 2 occupants.

City buses sound like an inferior mode of transportation considering they take you from where you don't live, and drop you off not quite where you need to go, on their own schedule, and don't save any fuel or money in the processes.

Average occupancy of a vehicle is 1.7 persons, while a city bus is 10, FYI.

I always argued we would be better off with minivans as our ridership was so low, even running direct door to door city owned cars would have made more financial sense considering how much a bus and driver costs. Instead they made it zero fare and ridership did go up pretty good. I still see empty or near empty buses driving the routes but I suppose if they didn't have consistent buses running the routes every hour or so, the peak ridership would drop off. I feel we are more progressive than even Portland or Berkeley, not that that is all a good thing. The best thing about Missoula? We are only 15 minutes away from Montana... I always joke.

[redpoint5]

Running empty/nearly empty routes to encourage ridership that doesn't pay for the cost of running the bus, that still doesn't equate to environmental benefits sounds like the definition of idiocy.

I'll start a different thread. City buses don't make sense from any angle at all. If progressive means wasting all resources, then I guess that's progress.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Running empty/nearly empty routes to encourage ridership that doesn't pay for the cost of running the bus, that still doesn't equate to environmental benefits sounds like the definition of idiocy.

I'll start a different thread. City buses don't make sense from any angle at all. If progressive means wasting all resources, then I guess that's progress.

Well I tend to agree with you, but it would be possible to be losing money (or being un-green, or whatever your measuring stick) some of the time, but more than making up for it the other times. But take away those loser times and you effect the good times so bad that overall you are now losing rather than winning. Sort of like say retail or UPS. Could you just shut down completely during the slow summer months and just make it big in the holiday season? Or would people get in the habit of finding an alternative and not even look your way come peak season?