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ESB new peaker plant will be ... natural gas
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Single deckers. All single deckers.
Have you actually taken a look at the makeup of the Dublin PSO (Dublin Bus + GAI fleet) recently?
Sigh ...Did you even read the linked stories ?
"The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “London’s toxic air is a shameful health crisis which is causing premature deaths and stunting the growth of children’s lungs. Today, as part of our work to tackle the harmful emissions we breathe and to help tackle the climate emergency, I am proud to announce the first two routes which will exclusively use electric double deck buses."
"The Mayor of London challenged us saying that he did not believe an electric double decker was technically feasible but we took up the challenge and in less than two years created the bus Londoners can see today”, said Isbrand Ho, Managing Director of BYD Europe. “This is not a hybrid bus but a totally emissions free product which will give London a world leading position in its efforts to improve air quality”.
Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director for Surface Transport, said: “BYD are a brilliant supplier. They lead the world in electric bus technology and we thank them for their efforts to make this new double decker a reality”."
There are now 100 electric double deckers buses in the UK
Hang on I'll post a picture .. it has 77 seats ( it loses 3 to the batteries :rolleyes: )
Notice the "I am Electric" sign in the window..
It always seems impossible until it's done.0 -
Sigh ...Did you even read the linked stories ?
"The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “London’s toxic air is a shameful health crisis which is causing premature deaths and stunting the growth of children’s lungs. Today, as part of our work to tackle the harmful emissions we breathe and to help tackle the climate emergency, I am proud to announce the first two routes which will exclusively use electric double deck buses."
"The Mayor of London challenged us saying that he did not believe an electric double decker was technically feasible but we took up the challenge and in less than two years created the bus Londoners can see today”, said Isbrand Ho, Managing Director of BYD Europe. “This is not a hybrid bus but a totally emissions free product which will give London a world leading position in its efforts to improve air quality”.
Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director for Surface Transport, said: “BYD are a brilliant supplier. They lead the world in electric bus technology and we thank them for their efforts to make this new double decker a reality”."
There are now 100 electric double deckers buses in the UK
Hang on I'll post a picture .. it has 77 seats ( it loses 3 to the batteries :rolleyes: )
Notice the "I am Electric" sign in the window..
It always seems impossible until it's done.
Great that London can be a mine canary for this tech. I don't want the NTA investing heavily in unproven tech, especially when there's no real need to do so. we already have Euro6 diesel buses. We haven't even taken to banning diesel cars, congestion charging or replacing car space with PT space, all measures that could slash emissions without taking a massive gamble. In some years I have no doubt that an electric double decker will be commercially available.0 -
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:rolleyes: Just as well that the NTA thought of that so.
The 600 buses is only an overall framework agreement with ADL for 6 years. They only placed a firm order for 100 actual buses for this year.
Each year they can review their requirements and choose a different specification, including EV if they want.
Of course this is all up in the air at the moment due to COVID19. ADL had to shut their factory due to COVID19 restrictions and public transport use is WAY down. So it is yet to see how all of this plays out.
The good news is that the ADL-BYD Double Deckers you linked to above are actually built in a joint partnership between ADL and BYD. The Chinese company BYD produces the battery and drive train, while ADL builds the actual bus.
So ADL has plenty of experience with these EV buses. And once they prove good enough for the NTA's needs, I'm sure ADL will tell the NTA and they can opt to switch their order to them.
BTW This order for 100 buses in London is nothing. The London Bus fleet is almost 10,000 buses, so it is just over 1% of the fleet. This is more a long term trial (and a bit of PR fluff) then a serious order. But it is good news as it will allow transport authorities throughout UK/Ireland find out how they really perform over the long term.
BBTW The only other company who made an EV double decker, Optare, is very small and wouldn't have the capacity to make enough buses for the NTA.
Wrightbus is the only other major double decker bus manufacturer, they made the current Dublin Buses. Well they went bankrupt a few months ago! Now they have been rescued by JCB, but they are much smaller now, they are rebuilding and likely wouldn't have the capacity to satisfy an NTA order either. Plus they don't have an EV Double deckers and their hybrids are also much poorer, small battery, no plug. The hybrid buses they trialled from Wrights were much less capable then the one they ordered from ADL.
So basically ADL are the only game in town at the moment, so it is good that the NTA are going with them.
you may have already answered this but do china not produce double decker ev's? i know the logistics of actually getting a chinese ev dd over here would be a tall order but humour me
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you may have already answered this but do china not produce double decker ev's? i know the logistics of actually getting a chinese ev dd over here would be a tall order but humour me
Couple of reasons.
First of all, they lack experience building DD's, AFAIR all Chinese buses are single deckers.
Very few countries use DD's, mostly just UK, Ireland, some in Berlin, Singapore and Hong Kong. So it is relatively a very small market for them. Then there is the whole Left Hand Drive difference to make it an even smaller market.
But also, it would be hard for them to break into the market here. Transport Authorities in the UK and Ireland would have decades of relationships with Wrights and ADL. These companies basically build the buses precisely to their spec.
Going with an unproven Chinese company would be risky for transport authorities. They aren't looking to save money on buying a bus, they look for quality and reliability and are typically willing to pay extra for that.
Some smaller Coach companies here bought some Chinese coaches, turned out to be total junk, got dumped after just 3 years.
So given all that, it was smart for BYD to partner with ADL. It mixes both companies strengths. BYD's expertise is in their battery tech and electric motors, while ADL have lots of experience with building buses to UK specs. And they can leverage ADL's relationship with transport authorities.
BTW this sort of relationship isn't unusual at all, quiet common in bus manufacturing.
For instance earlier I mentioned that the current Dublin Buses are made by Wrightbus. That is only partly true. For the past 5 years or so the NTA contract has actually been with Volvo. Volvo build the bus chassis, drive train and engine in Sweden and then they shipped those to Wrights in Northern Ireland who they then subcontracted to build the body of the bus around the Volvo chassis.
Which might raise the question, why don't Volvo build LHD DD buses themselves?
I bet this is WAY more then you ever wanted to know about this market 0
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