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HYBRID SCHOOL BUS - HYBRID RVs SOON?

"Nearly double the fuel efficiency of typical diesel school buses ..."

Hybrid school bus

NAPA, Calif., July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine the environmental impact if all of California's school buses were able to double their fuel efficiency and eliminate up to 40 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. That's not the premise for a futuristic Hollywood movie, it's reality for one California school district.

IC Bus, LLC, the largest school bus manufacturer in North America and affiliate of Navistar, Inc. , delivered a revolutionary new hybrid diesel electric school bus to Napa Valley Unified School District last August -- the only hybrid diesel electric school bus in California.

While most "diesel-only" powered school buses achieve an average of six to seven miles per gallon, Ralph Knight, transportation director at Napa Valley School District, was surprised to learn just how much fuel the hybrid diesel electric school bus could save.

After one school year and 13,000 miles, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that the fuel efficiency of the hybrid bus helped him reach close to 13 miles per gallon -- nearly double the fuel efficiency of a typical diesel school bus.

Based on 13,000 miles the hybrid bus traveled during the 2007-08 school year, annual fuel costs for a standard school bus would be just under $10,000 at $4.87 per gallon. Conversely, fuel for the hybrid bus costs approximately $5,000 at the same price per gallon.

"Fuel costs are a major concern to me," said Knight. "Cutting annual fuel costs in half for this bus is a major advantage -- both for taxpayers' wallets and for the environment."

Traveling about 65 miles per day, the hybrid bus typically transports roughly 60 children each morning and 60 each afternoon through a mixed route of highway and city driving.

"The children are excited to be riding one of the first hybrid school buses in the nation," said Knight. "The parents have also commented on the positive environmental benefits of the bus."

Drivers also enjoy driving the bus. To the driver, it operates similar to a standard school bus. However, the diesel engine receives assistance from an electric motor at certain points during acceleration and deceleration. The hybrid drive system on Napa Valley's bus is recharged by plugging it into a standard outlet at night or between morning and afternoon routes.

Torrance, Calif.-based Enova Systems, a leading supplier of proprietary electric, hybrid and fuel cell digital power management systems is the exclusive supplier of school bus hybrid drive systems to IC Bus. The company selected Enova's post-transmission parallel hybrid drive system because of its reliability, proven ability to deliver significant fuel efficiency improvements and emission reductions over a broad range of route cycles, and because no additional investment in maintenance infrastructure is required.

The word in the industry has gotten out. Knight says he has fielded calls from school districts all over the country asking him about the performance of this new bus.

"I've told them the truth," said Knight. "I'm very pleased with the hybrid school bus."

One of the other advantages of the bus hasn't really been "seen" -- and that's by design. The exhaust of the hybrid school bus is smokeless with dramatically reduced emissions compared to older buses operating in California. In fact, emissions of particulate matter have been reduced by up to 90 percent.

"There's a host of new technologies incorporated into the hybrid school bus that provide the improvement in fuel economy and reduction in emissions," said David Hillman, marketing director at IC Bus. "With a year of customer experience in Napa, and the additional experience gained from hybrid buses at customers throughout the U.S. and Canada, we have shown that hybrid technology is a viable solution for bus operators in North America. The volume provided by our current customer base has allowed us to reduce our prices by $30,000 to $40,000. We encourage further efforts to provide federal and state funding, such as the California Proposition 1B funds, to help offset purchase prices and provide the opportunity for more school districts and bus operators to implement this environmentally vital technology."

In the case of Napa's hybrid unit, PG&E provided $30,000 to help with the purchase of the plug-in hybrid school bus. An additional $30,000 to fund the bus was provided by the U.S. EPA through the Clean School Bus USA program and the West Coast Collaborative, a public-private partnership to reduce diesel emissions.

Schools in California can use funds allocated by Proposition 1B to direct toward the purchase of a hybrid school bus. Funding to districts to support hybrid purchases from Proposition 1B and distributed through the California Air Resources Board can be up to $40,000 per bus.

Hybrid school buses - RoTi will keep you informed about RV developments ...

READERS' COMMENTS
(Latest comments first)

What do you think? - add your comments here  
  
authorcomments
Mr. CWhat happened to Blue Bird's promise of a hover-bus by 2016?
TiretrampStop hauling children within two miles of school and reduce bus cost another 50%. Plug into recharge, what a joke. What is wrong on inboard charging and solar? Gov and Power conpanies are screaming about over using electric. Where is the electric going to come from?
Montana MikeOn a recent trip through Colorado, I noticed the city of Vail is operatiing at least one Hybrid Bus. Railroads have been using Diesel Electric power for years, and ship builders for even longer. I believe this technology could produce far more economical trucks buses and RV's. I just don't know why it is not being used more. It seems a smaller diesel engine operating a generator to recharge batteries or directly drive electric motors could operate these vehicles. I currently operate a 40 ft pusher, and room is not a problem.
OkeeDokeeHey guys, did you notice that the bus is not just a hybrid but A PLUG IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE??? Not a singe EV on the market for the public to buy! What do I think? I'm pissed off. And do not consider the energy consumption cut in half--some was shifted to electricity consumption. Didn't you notice PG&E donated $30,000? Does PG&E sell diesel or gasoline? Noooo, they sell electricity! Follow the money, honey.
KatherineI'd love the option of a hybrid RV. Our coach gets 7 mpg and we feel we can't use it as much as we used to, we can't afford long trips.
jespegTruckers are allowed to pass the fuel charge to their load so they do not care how much fuel costs( I think ), so now that leaves us to pay very high prices for fuel. Before fuel charges diesel cost was less than gas.
greengalWe would love to have the option of getting an RV with hybrid/diesel technology that would get at least 20mpg. We aren't into the denial or pointing fingers to justify owning a 38' diesel pusher. What we do is pull our Prius and use it for day trips while we are traveling. It isn't perfect, but it is still cheaper than having to stay in hotels and eat out everyday. Keeping the RV well maintained and keeping the speed down a little does help. We just returned from a 10K, 3 month trip and it will be awhile before we can justify paying $4.899 for diesel again at 10 mpg.
John AAmazing that GM are building one new hybrid model every three months. RV manufacturers should take note and work with GM or Cummins or whoever to improve RV fuel consumptions.

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