[GB] Hybrid d/d 1 - ADL Enviro 400H

Over the last 4 months, a number of much anticipated hybrid buses have progressively got into service in London. Amongst the most interesting ones are of course the double deckers - with double deckers still feature much of the bus services in Britain, the success of these types can well see a more widespread embrace of the hybrid technology - esp. Transport for London is looking to have 800 hybrid buses in service by 2011.

With such important business in the near future, it is hardly surprising that most of the key manufacturers managed to offer their solutions for evaluation. Three types are being evaluated so far, but arguably the most important one is none other than ADL's Enviro 400H, the hybrid version of the top London double decker at the moment.



At the moment, 12 examples are operated by 3 operators in London, with Metorline and London General taking 5 each, and the remaining 2, originally destined to TfL-owned East Thames Buses, went to Transdev London instead. What is fairly remarkably is these are, at the moment, the only hybrids to operate all-week round - just about everything else runs on weekdays only.



This apparent reliability to the rivals in service (Wright Gemini 2 HEV in this case, as Volvo's B5Ls are still being ready) may be down to the choice of powertrain - The Enviro 400H has a BAE Systems HybriDrive series system coupled with a Cummins ISBe engine. Unlike the one on the diesel-powered version, this one is smaller, a 3.9L 4-cylinder mostly found on Euro 3 Dart SLFs and E200Darts, and process just 185bhp. The system is well proven though - the HybriDrive has been in service in the US for some time. This provides a fairly low-risk solution in comparison to, say, ADL's other hybrid d/d, the parallel drive E500H.



For the lost of 4 seats upstairs and weight gain of 500kg as a result of fitting the batteries - Oh, a hefty price tag as well, £315K for a pot - the E400H apparent is doing well in terms of fuel economy. ADL claim it can manage 8.4mpg, or miles per gallon (someone might want to convert this to km per litre), although in real life it falls short from this target. However, nominally it still better the diesel version by at least 50%, which is an impressive improvement (Ironically, for all the technology, a 30 year-old Gardner-powered Metrobus or Leyland Titan can beat that easily, returning nearly 10mpg typically).

Ride quality of the E400H is very good as well, although being first time on a hybrid bus of this type (comparing to the Designlines I have been on in Newcastle a few years ago, which feels completely different in every way). It's quiet - not absolute silence, but sounds a bit like a ISB-engined Dart/E200Dart - until the engine kicks in to charge the battery. Even then, the noise is not intrusive and you only feel it when it runs with the bus stationary. In fact, it doesn't feel like the engine kicks in too often either. Stop and start is pretty smooth, esp. without the gear change, and performance is pretty comparable with any diesel powered contemporaries. Most importantly, it feels like a bus, not a tram, and a very comfortable one indeed.



In the past, I have never been a great fan of the E400, thinking it looks too flimsy and too little quality in it. But all these are not important in this hybrid version. It's an engineering marvel, works well, rides well and saves fuel pretty well (even if it's not hitting its target just yet). ADL knows they need a competent hybrid product to sustain and grow their dominance of the Enviro 400 in the capital, and as far as the evidence provided by the Enviro 400H, they certainly have set the yardstick for the rest of the pack to beat.



[ 本帖最後由 NV58 於 2009-4-24 21:54 編輯 ]

我忽視覺得E400車身如果係香港同裝孖柱,都唔會核突得去邊,因為個銀幕夠晒大.

如果香港有E400就好.

如果香港引入E500H就好啦~環保過你歐4歐5...不過佢夠力推郁部冷氣嗎?

我覺得香港唔會引入囉, E400H已經要315000英鎊, 即係差不多360萬港元一部, E500H(若果有的話)要賣幾錢?
另外就係, 若果要預留位置擺電池, 又要直梯, 載客量仲會少過而家.
若果又貴又載客少, 好唔化算.

some comments:
Those buses have been in service for too short a time;
On route 16 &24, you will generally not find more than 3 out of the 5 buses in actual service, which is not a very good service record for a normal service bus[ you expect 4 if not 5 in service every day]
one of the many reasons for that is that the hybrid buses [all of them actually] need an extra engineering attention, and recharging the batteries take almost a whole working day
[actual example: route 16 on Tuesday which only had ONE hybrid out during most of the day].

There is no doubt that the Wright Hybrids are not doing so well at the moment, and there are the Volvo B5L hybrids too [not in service yet].
I can assure all of you that the riding quality on those Wright buses is quite impressive too.[but again it is a new bus! how would it feel like in a couple of years? good question! ]
[to begin with, the Wright buses were too slow when staring or accelerating.. this has now been fixed by Wright]

The Optare tempo s/d bus also offers a different hybrid system [from my understanding- and I am not an 'engine' expert. So far only 2 out of the 10 promised buses are in service.

I think that only time will tell which technologies prove themselves in normal reliable service.

We all have to bear in mind the service requirement demanded from buses in London: a reliable bus that can spend a whole service day [0530-2400 7 days a week, plus night services]  out on the road.
The current engineering/maintenance requirement mean a spare ratio of between 10-13%.

So far,even though the fuel consumption of the E400H is reported to be 30% less than diesel buses, the issue is still that they spend more time in the garage than conventional buses.

The interesting route to watch - when everything is delivered and enters service- would be the 141, which will have:
- 5 Wright integral hybrids [already in service] - the HW class
-5 Volvo B5L hybrids [with Wright buses]- the HV class
-5 Wright integral diesel buses [the DW201-5]- and Arriva ordered a further 57 of those for route 38. [First already operate 3 of those on route 23- WN35001-3] and Go Ahead- one -WDL1.
it would have been good to have a further 5 E400H operate on the 141 as well to enable a comparison on the same route.

oh, yes: 5 E200H have been delivered to FW/Transdev for rotue 371- to enter service in May.

All in all, we- bus fans in London- live in interesting times, don't you think?

how is it all paid for? money from TfL!

I will post a photo of the B5L later today!

regards

Yoram.

原帖由 yblumann 於 2009-4-26 10:08 發表
one of the many reasons for that is that the hybrid buses [all of themactually] need an extra engineering attention, and recharging thebatteries take almost a whole working day

No, recharging the batteries is not a major issue for a hybrid, because when the battery is flat, the engine fires itself up to recharge it anyway. Of course, I'm not saying they don't recharge it in the garage. Afterall, doing that means the engine of the bus won't fire up first thing in the morning.

Availability is an issue, but I think overall, the E400H isn't doing too badly on that ground. Yes you don't get all of them running a full day duty, but still they manage a roster over a full week, which is not bad comparing with the Geminis and Electrocity. Yes all the systems will have to gain a level of maturity in time, but the E400H may have a headstart for adapting one that is in operation widely. Hopefully, they will achieve the operational requirements that you set out (and look rather reasonable), afterall, they are, at the moment, nearly double the price. Even accounting for the fuel saving, it's still a hefty premium to pay.

So far, I can only say the E400H is better than the Gemini from my prospective, having been on both a few weeks ago. I'm very interested with the B5L though, in that it has a proper transmission (Volvo's i-Shift). I think it will be an interesting comparison to the E400H, in particular.

Euro4 or Euro5 is still more cost effective than so called hybrid.  Today's hybrid technologies are just gimmicks, and are for politicians to gain votes.

Please be reminded the battery is heavy and still need to be disposal of after their service life.  Resources should be focused on Fuel Cell which is the ultimate solution; but today everyone just wants to be in the party of  hydrid.

Anyway, thanks for NV58's and yblumann's update.

Stop and start is pretty smooth, esp. without the gear change

即係無段變速波箱?

原帖由 WLT900 於 2009-4-26 14:57 發表
Euro4 or Euro5 is still more cost effective than so calledhybrid.  Today's hybrid technologies are just gimmicks, and are forpoliticians to gain votes.

Please be reminded the battery is heavy and still need to be disposalof after their service life.  Resources should be focused on Fuel Cellwhich is the ultimate solution; but today everyone just wants to be inthe party of  hydrid.

The biggest problem for fuel cell is the technology is still a long way off widespread application - it's not what we can called a matured technology and the biggest problem of all, is the supporting infrastructure is simply not available. To build up the infrastructure to support widespead fuel cell use takes time and, amongst all, money, something which will take a long time before anyone is keen paying to do the job. The premium of fuel cell technology at the moment, or even short term, is just too much - the fuel cell Citaro that was trialed a few years ago, for instance, was eight times more to buy than the diesel version. This makes a hybrid sounds like a bargain.

Whilst hybrid technology sounds more show and no go, I think it has its merit. Yes all the batteries weigh - 500kg in the E400H for instance, but they are not some dead weights being carried around doing nothing useful. In hybrids, barrery power is used to get the vehicle moving from stop - something that tends to burn more fuel than you are cruising at constant(-ish) speed. That also mean most of the time - depending on it's a series or parallel drive system - you can keep the diesel/petrol engine off when the vehicle is in stationary - another key moment of fuel saving. For citybuses which spend much of the time on stop-and-start routines, the merit of hybrid cannot be disputed - the improved fuel economy speaks for itself, in some way.

But I'm not going to defending hybrid technology here. At the point of disposal batteries are a bit of a headache, even for the Li-ion battery that are being used, which is true. Another issue to consider is there are other ways to achieve the savings as well - regenerative brakes for example, can also be adapted to recharge normal batteries to power up accessories (fans, air-cond and the likes). The "stop-and-start" technology is another what are increasingly adapted by car manufacturers (e.g. Citroen, BMW) to achieve better emission and fuel economy. The key thing is, hybrid technology is not the only game in town at the moment, but it does have its place - as a temporary solution now until something better, i.e. fuel cell, eventually emerges. For citybus operation, I think it does help. But when we take about interurban services like those in HK, then hybrid vehicles are relatively pointless.

df9321 - No, it has a electric motor to drive the bus and it has no geared transmission.

just one small point to add... my information regarding the recharging of the batteries in the garage- this comes from an 'engineering director' in one of the operating companies, I also do not understand why you need to do this when the batteries are supposed to be self charging, but..

regards

Yoram