Electric, Hydrogen & Hybrid Electric Buses in Ireland

GT89

Bus Eireann's PADs are now in service in Galway

dublinman1990

GT89 wrote: »

Bus Eireann's PADs are now in service in Galway

That's great. What routes do they serve?

GT89

dublinman1990 wrote: »

That's great. What routes do they serve?

Pictures I saw were on the 407 route

bk

GT89 wrote: »

Pictures I saw were on the 407 route

The pictures I've seen appear to be the 409

BTW I'm wondering if any of the drivers on here have had a chance to drive one yet? How are they from the drivers point of view? Acceleration, etc.?

From the video posted they seem nippy, but hard to tell from a video.

GT89

I'd be interested to see what happens to the rest of the city fleet in Galway now with the arrival of the PADs. I've heard talk that Galway will be switching to an all double deck fleet for city routes I've also heard talk that some of the Galway based dual door VWDs will move to Cork.

ax586

bk wrote: »

The pictures I've seen appear to be the 409

BTW I'm wondering if any of the drivers on here have had a chance to drive one yet? How are they from the drivers point of view? Acceleration, etc.?

From the video posted they seem nippy, but hard to tell from a video.

I'm in Summerhill so ill be waiting for a bit..one of Broadstone's PA is in Harristown for training but what I've being told is drivers like them.

dublinman1990

It appears the next set of new hybrids are going out on the 4 once Broadstone concludes it's hybrid bus allocation on the 140. PA21-PA41 are based in Harristown which are to be used on the 4 route going from this allocation list.

PA1-20=route140 broadstone
PA21-41= route 4 harristown
PA42-58= route 122 phibsboro
PA59-74= route 123 summerhill

GT89

Galway to become the first city in Ireland to have a fully hybrid fleet by 2022
https://connachttribune.ie/galway-first-city-to-move-to-hybrid-bus-eireann-fleet-by-2022/

Sam Russell

GT89 wrote: »

Galway to become the first city in Ireland to have a fully hybrid fleet by 2022
https://connachttribune.ie/galway-first-city-to-move-to-hybrid-bus-eireann-fleet-by-2022/

Which constituency is the TD that is Minister for Hybrid Buses from?

I thought so.

In fairness, they look to be pretty crap hybrids, only 2.5km worth of running on batteries. The cross city link itself is 2.7km

Unless the batteries are fully recharged by the diesel engine when outside the city center. Maybe thats the case but I don't know enough about these buses

bk

Deleted User wrote: »

In fairness, they look to be pretty crap hybrids, only 2.5km worth of running on batteries. The cross city link itself is 2.7km

Unless the batteries are fully recharged by the diesel engine when outside the city center. Maybe thats the case but I don't know enough about these buses

They are actually really good for a hybrid.

32kWh battery with an actual plug, versus less then 1kWh battery and no plug for older traditional hybrids like the Enviro400H.

2.5km would be on the low end of running for these, the actual spec is between 2.5km to 10km, depending on speed, etc. I suspect they will be closer to 10km in city centers with lots of stopping and slow speeds. By comparison the older hybrids have 0km, since they can't run off battery only, the Diesel engine always needs to be running on the old models.

And yes, the Diesel engine can recharge the battery on these new models. The idea is that they are GPS controlled. Diesel engine running outside the city, charging the battery as you approach the city, engine switches off and run off battery only once in the core city center, engine switches back on when you leave it and recharges battery.

Not bad at all, obviously a full EV bus would be better, that will come in time.

punisher5112

bk wrote: »

They are actually really good for a hybrid.

32kWh battery with an actual plug, versus less then 1kWh battery and no plug for older traditional hybrids like the Enviro400H.

2.5km would be on the low end of running for these, the actual spec is between 2.5km to 10km, depending on speed, etc. I suspect they will be closer to 10km in city centers with lots of stopping and slow speeds. By comparison the older hybrids have 0km, since they can't run off battery only, the Diesel engine always needs to be running on the old models.

And yes, the Diesel engine can recharge the battery on these new models. The idea is that they are GPS controlled. Diesel engine running outside the city, charging the battery as you approach the city, engine switches off and run off battery only once in the core city center, engine switches back on when you leave it and recharges battery.

Not bad at all, obviously a full EV bus would be better, that will come in time.

The diesel engine is a generator so it doesn't run the drive train itself.

The electrical motor powers the transmission rather then the older set up.

bk

bk wrote: »

They are actually really good for a hybrid.

32kWh battery with an actual plug, versus less then 1kWh battery and no plug for older traditional hybrids like the Enviro400H.

2.5km would be on the low end of running for these, the actual spec is between 2.5km to 10km, depending on speed, etc. I suspect they will be closer to 10km in city centers with lots of stopping and slow speeds. By comparison the older hybrids have 0km, since they can't run off battery only, the Diesel engine always needs to be running on the old models.

And yes, the Diesel engine can recharge the battery on these new models. The idea is that they are GPS controlled. Diesel engine running outside the city, charging the battery as you approach the city, engine switches off and run off battery only once in the core city center, engine switches back on when you leave it and recharges battery.

Not bad at all, obviously a full EV bus would be better, that will come in time.

Cheers, clears things up

dublinman1990

Some of the PA's have been spotted this week on the 66. The number 66 is huge though on the front of these buses.

GT89

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Some of the PA's have been spotted this week on the 66. The number 66 is huge though on the front of these buses.

I saw that I'm guessing it's Broadstone Euros on the 66

GT89

Second batch of PAs is starting to be delivered now

dublinman1990

A new Higer Steed electric bus is now running in service for a Localink route in the Midlands.

A RTÉ News report on them on the 9 O'Clock News will begin shortly although it may have been on 6.1 already.

EDIT: The bus is with Martleys. Did anyone see it?

Peregrine

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Some new Higer electric buses are now running in service for a Localink route in the Midlands.

A RTÉ News report on them on the 9 O'Clock News will begin shortly although it may have been on 6.1 already.

Yes, a Higer Steed owned by Martley's of Portlaoise. OPW have two for Glenveagh.

They're not suited for Dublin services though. The Higer Azure is competing for that.

https://twitter.com/LaoisOffaly/status/1375520730675302400?s=20

bk

Peregrine wrote: »

Yes, a Higer Steed owned by Martley's of Portlaoise. OPW have two for Glenveagh.

They're not suited for Dublin services though. The Higer Azure is competing for that.

https://twitter.com/LaoisOffaly/status/1375520730675302400?s=20

Interesting video review of this bus here in Ireland here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k99uQJhAgQ8

devnull

bk wrote: »

Interesting video review of this bus here in Ireland here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k99uQJhAgQ8

That's a different bus, the bus in the previous post is a wheel forward steed, whilst the one in the link is a door forward Azure.

The way the bells are placed, the whole length of the bus, facing the aisle rather than facing the passengers is really odd, especially on a bus in Ireland where people hate standing. Should be facing the seats like pretty much every other bus.

The Steed, with it's odd internal layout, is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RB4n2pzQVo

GT89

devnull wrote: »

That's a different bus, the bus in the previous post is a wheel forward steed, whilst the one in the link is a door forward Azure.

The way the bells are placed, the whole length of the bus, facing the aisle rather than facing the passengers is really odd, especially on a bus in Ireland where people hate standing. Should be facing the seats like pretty much every other bus.

The Steed, with it's odd internal layout, is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RB4n2pzQVo

It's only a demo model I'd imagine

bk

devnull wrote: »

That's a different bus, the bus in the previous post is a wheel forward steed, whilst the one in the link is a door forward Azure.

I know it is the Azure and not the Steed!

Peregrine was saying that the Azure is the model that is being put forward as a contender for the NTA single decker EV contract and in response I linked to a video review of the Azure so that people could see what it looks like.

The Steed is interesting, but the Azure is the much more interesting vehicle and potentially could end up here in large numbers if they were to win the NTA contract.

Of course no guarantees on that, I'm sure others have also put other vehicles forward for the contract.

Also the above video is just a demonstrator and if it was to actually win the NTA contract, I'd assume changes would be made to fit NTA spec and requirements.

punisher5112

bk wrote: »

I know it is the Azure and not the Steed!

Peregrine was saying that the Azure is the model that is being put forward as a contender for the NTA single decker EV contract and in response I linked to a video review of the Azure so that people could see what it looks like.

The Steed is interesting, but the Azure is the much more interesting vehicle and potentially could end up here in large numbers if they were to win the NTA contract.

Of course no guarantees on that, I'm sure others have also put other vehicles forward for the contract.

Also the above video is just a demonstrator and if it was to actually win the NTA contract, I'd assume changes would be made to fit NTA spec and requirements.

I'd say the enviro single decker will be the choice....

bk

punisher5112 wrote: »

I'd say the enviro single decker will be the choice....

Well you can never be sure, but yes, I'd assume the BYD-ADL Enviro200EV would be a front runner.

thomasj

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Some of the PA's have been spotted this week on the 66. The number 66 is huge though on the front of these buses.

Dublin bus new ad on SM for hand sanitisers includes shots on a PA on the 66

bk

Dublin Bus Fleet to be fully electric by 2050:

https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2021/0603/1225756-dublin-bus/

Also the fleet is to increase by 330 by 2027

Sam Russell

bk wrote: »

Dublin Bus Fleet to be fully electric by 2050:

https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2021/0603/1225756-dublin-bus/

Also the fleet is to increase by 330 by 2027

If they replace buses at 14 years old, surely that should be by 2040.

GT89

Sam Russell wrote: »

If they replace buses at 14 years old, surely that should be by 2040.

That's what I would I have thought also. I see 25 AXs are up for sale now.

Peregrine

Sam Russell wrote: »

If they replace buses at 14 years old, surely that should be by 2040.

Probably 2037. If the last hybrid bus is delivered in 2023, they'd have to use it for 27 years to only be zero emissions by 2050. Which doesn't make any sense.

It's a really strange announcement.

GT89

Peregrine wrote: »

Probably 2037. If the last hybrid bus is delivered in 2023, they'd have to use it for 27 years to only be zero emissions by 2050. Which doesn't make any sense.

It's a really strange announcement.

Unless their including the likes of open tops, driver trainers, tree loopers etc.