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| Design of the eBus is taken from the specification file. |
This is another 'follow up' to my previous article. The previous article became very popular due to the images of the real double deck electric bus that I found.
BYD has unveiled the specifications for their double deck electric bus. In the table below you can see the comparison to the New Routemaster, which is hybrid diesel electric.
BYD eBus double deck
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Wright New Routemaster
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Length
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10200 mm
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11232 mm
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Width
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2550 mm
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2520 mm
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Height
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4400 mm
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4420 mm
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Turning Circle
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22.2 m
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21m
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Seated Passengers
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54
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62
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Standees
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27*
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25*
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Total Capacity
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81*
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87*
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Top Speed
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70 km/h
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50 mph
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*Capacity may be different due to the laden weight of the vehicle, which reduces capacity.
Looking at the layout and seating plan of the lower deck of the BYD double deck eBus, I could see that it only has 17 seats, compared with the New Routemaster which has 22 seats on the lower deck. The reason why the electric double deck bus has less seats on the lower deck is because of the battery pack at the rear of the bus. The New Routemaster has an engine under the rear staircase and the battery pack and electric motors are under the middle to rear seats of the bus.
In the diagram you can see that the New Routemaster has an extra staircase with the door at the rear; the newer fleet of the New Routemaster has no open platform, so instead it has a door that opens outwards in the same way that the middle doors do; I have explained this in my previous article. This is one of the reasons why the New Routemaster is 1 metre longer than the BYD Double Deck eBus and conventional double deck buses with an average length of 10.2 metres.
‘CityTransportInfo’ has pointed the following out on his video which is titled ‘Some 1990s London Cycle Lanes + Air Pollution Solutions.’ He says: "However it is not suitable for full size buses used on high mileage daily duties - these still need their diesel engines. This is because batteries are so heavy that the only way the buses could carry enough of them would be by significantly reducing their passenger capacity." This is true because the BYD Double Deck electric bus has reduced the capacity, specifically by reducing the seats on the lower deck to make room for the batteries to operate the bus.
The BYD Double Deck eBus has 37 seats on the upper deck compared to 40 seats on the New Routemaster. The only difference is the three extra seats, compared to the New Routemaster which has an extra staircase at the rear.
The double deck electric bus has a 320kWh battery capacity which means it can cover at least 303km on a single charge. The length of London Buses route 16 is 9km (6 miles,) which means it can operate for many hours on this route. The charging time is 1.5 hours (90 minutes) according to the specification. Someone told me that there will be 5 double deck electric buses on route 16 which is more than I expected, so good job TFL! Personally, I thought there would only be two in service.
The cost of the electric bus hasn't been revealed yet, but personally, I predict that it may cost more than one New Routemaster bus. One of the advantages of the electric double deck bus is that it has window openings for ventilation. Looking at the image of the interior, it probably has an air cooling system which is ideal for hot days to keep the passengers cool.
The bus doesn't have a diesel engine so not only are there no dirty fumes exhausting from the rear, there are ZERO emissions, which is a blessing for Londoner's as the cancer risk from diesel fumes is now well documented. Now compare this to the New Routemaster, where Wrightbus claim it reduces CO2 by 47%, this is because the diesel engine is still used to power the battery pack of the bus.
Now if the trial is successful which personally, I think it will be, then we will see one route in London being fully served with double deck electric buses. However, we have to wait and see as route 312 is already due to be fully served by single deck electric buses manufactured by Optare, which will start in September 2015. Not to mention that two new single deck electric buses manufactured by Irizar will join along routes 507 & 521.
At the moment, Routes 507, 521, H98 & 315 currently have a small allocation of electric buses. Also route RV1 has an allocation of hydrogen buses which are zero emission, the route also has a small allocation of diesel buses.
Links to the specifications
I am still waiting for news about the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC Virtual Electric. We are now entering mid-Summer and it should be in operation on London Buses route 69 very soon now. No news either from LOTS (London Omnibus Traction Society) and London Bus Routes about the Virtual Electric bus yet. The bus still uses a diesel engine but the brochure claims they can run up to 80% of the time in electric mode.
Recently LOTS have unveiled the latest TFL tender awards from 1st July 2015.
Tranche 474
· 353 - re-awarded to Metrobus with existing Euro 4 double decks (currently allocated to route 498), PVR 8. Start date 24 October.
· 359 - re-awarded to Metrobus with existing Euro 4 single deck, PVR 3 (currently allocated to route 202). Start date 24 October
· 654 - re-awarded to Metrobus with existing Euro 4 double deck, PVR 0 (allocation from route 353). Start date 24 October.
Tranche 506
· 229 - awarded to Arriva Kent Thameside (currently London Central) with double deck, type to be confirmed. PVR 20, start date 23 January 2016.
· 492 - re-awarded to Arriva Kent Thameside with double deck, type to be confirmed. PVR 7.
Tranche 507
· 469 - awarded to Arriva Kent Thameside (currently Stagecoach Selkent) with new diesel single deck, PVR 8. Start date 23 January 2016
· B12 - re-awarded to Arriva Kent Thameside with existing Euro 4 single deck, PVR 7. Start date 23 January 2016
· B13 - re-awarded to Arriva Kent Thameside with new diesel single deck, PVR 6. Start date 23 January 2016.
Tranche 511
· 616 - re-awarded to London General with existing Euro 4 double deck, PVR 2. Start date 6 February 2016
· W10 - re-awarded to London General with existing Euro 5 diesel single deck, PVR 0 (allocation from routes 192 & W4). Start date 6 February.
The double deck type for Routes 229 and 492 has still yet to be confirmed. Will it be a diesel electric hybrid, a new Euro 6 diesel bus or the existing buses from the bus operating company? We'll have to wait and see.
Routes 469 and B13 may end up having the latest Euro 6 single deck diesel buses.
Unfortunately, TFL is still allowing the Euro 4 and Euro 5 diesel buses to operate which obviously means more emissions entering the environment.
Well that is all I have to say for now except to say thank-you to those of you who have shared my recent articles, which I am pleased about. Hopefully you'll share this article too. Also, don't forget to follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and Google Plus for updates which is @Clondoner92
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