Spent some time on an electric bus

[Sedin26]

Vancouver, BC was full of electric busses but the city got rid of them and the overhead electric cables in time for Expo 86. They didn’t want the stodgey streetcar image.

Downtown still has them. There are currently 13 routes and 262 buses, 74 of which are articulated.

They’re going to try out some overhead electric buses with smaller batteries so the batteries can charge while driving and the buses can go full electric for about 20km before needing to be connected again.

Apparently that extra bit of length on some of the electric routes will greatly increase the flexibility of the buses in terms of where they go, how many people they can serve, etc…

 

[Snagglefoot]

Downtown still has them. There are currently 13 routes and 262 buses, 74 of which are articulated.

They’re going to try out some overhead electric buses with smaller batteries so the batteries can charge while driving and the buses can go full electric for about 20km before needing to be connected again.

Apparently that extra bit of length on some of the electric routes will greatly increase the flexibility of the buses in terms of where they go, how many people they can serve, etc…

Here’s a shot of some of the buses. A restored one is on the left.

 

[hrv]

Here’s a shot of some of the buses. A restored one is on the left.

View attachment 221715

Left side is what we had in Cleveland...

 

[billt460]

Trolleys make so much more sense than batteries. And over time they're going to cost far less, without having to deal with installing expensive charging stations, constant downtime, expensive batteries, poor cold weather performance, and a dozen other things. Plus, we've had them for decades, and they're not only proven to work, but work well.

 

[Jetronic]

We took a trip to Norway to visit family, and while in Oslo had the opportunity to ride in their buses. Goodness. These were 2 segment buses that had a pivot (hinge?) in the middle. So they were long.

They had excellent seating, solid AC, and air ride. They’d drop 3” at every stop, and then pop back up in 1 second to roll off. Ride was smooth smooth smooth…

They were near silent, and absolutely flew up the hills. Driver was accelerating, cornering and braking faster than I usually drive. And again, uphill climbs were effortless and awesome. Add the silence and smooth ride on top? Darn fine bus ride.

I heard they did run into capacity problems in the winter, and they adjusted their use patterns to accommodate, and kept going.

That whole area has advanced public transport and train systems. I figure they know what they are doing and are figuring out new things too.

Good experience, impressive.

None of these traits are exclusive to electric busses though. We have some, and all but about 10% have electric drivetrains but use a diesel engine to generate power.

Our busses tilt, if the driver chooses, it's not automatic.

I might be in this video, haven't checked:

 

[Jetronic]

wouldn't the tried and true overhead wire system be far superior in long term running costs ?

If and where it exists. But might as well use street cars then. A trolley with a moderate battery so it can go off grid for a short distance would have my preference.

 

[Jetronic]

Downtown still has them. There are currently 13 routes and 262 buses, 74 of which are articulated.

They’re going to try out some overhead electric buses with smaller batteries so the batteries can charge while driving and the buses can go full electric for about 20km before needing to be connected again.

Apparently that extra bit of length on some of the electric routes will greatly increase the flexibility of the buses in terms of where they go, how many people they can serve, etc…

And in case of a power outage at the worst possible place etc.... I think that's the way to go too

 

[Jetronic]

a little older video (without the bus sounds too) complaing there's too many busses in the city... he gets his wish, there won't be hardly any going through the city from 2025 on.

 

[nthach]

Trolleys make so much more sense than batteries. And over time they're going to cost far less, without having to deal with installing expensive charging stations, constant downtime, expensive batteries, poor cold weather performance, and a dozen other things. Plus, we've had them for decades, and they're not only proven to work, but work well.

Yep - in San Francisco, trolley buses can go where diesel and BEVs can’t, which is up the hills. Their BEV fleet is confined for flatter routes.

 

[tcp71]

All of that stuff is great until you bankrupt your country. EU countries are at the forefront of this. I’m glad that at least the experience was good.

Norway isn't going bankrupt any time soon. 10th richest country in the world and 1.4 TRILLION in reserves:

 

[Allaneddie]

I think there might be some confusion here.

Are they "trolleys", or or they rechargeable electric busses?
Pittsburgh still has trolleys. Those run on tracks with overhead wires.
There are also segmented busses there, and "kneeling" busses, which lower at every stop.

Please help me clear up my confusion.
Norway, Germany and many other eastern European countries have been focused on public transportation for MANY years.

 

[Pew]

Here’s a shot of some of the buses. A restored one is on the left.

View attachment 221715

The few dozen of Chicago CTA busses that are electric is the one on the right. In a fleet of over 1,800 busses, less than 50 are electric, most downtown are CNG, and the rest are diesel (~600 diesels were bought in the past year.) Even as a smoker, it's refreshing to not smell old diesel engine fumes stagnating downtown.

 

[KrisZ]

Norway isn't going bankrupt any time soon. 10th richest country in the world and 1.4 TRILLION in reserves:

View attachment 221905

First, you don’t see the irony of their wealth mainly coming from selling their oil reserves?

Second, that fund can be dissolved an any time with a stroke of a pen. It’s just numbers in the ether. If they have so much “wealth” why are they taxing their citizens at one of the highest rates in the world?

 

[nthach]

The few dozen of Chicago CTA busses that are electric is the one on the right. In a fleet of over 1,800 busses, less than 50 are electric, most downtown are CNG, and the rest are diesel (~600 diesels were bought in the past year.) Even as a smoker, it's refreshing to not smell old diesel engine fumes stagnating downtown.

Those buses have DPF/SCR issues - it does help but unless the bus operator doesn’t get the DPFs cleaned out, problems. Buses don’t run hot enough. One of the local authorities here has their drivers take their buses on the freeway on deadhead back to the yard and cleans up the DPFs periodically. I’ve seen the EGT and DPF REGEN ACTIVE light on their buses after a freeway run during the commute.

 

[tcp71]

First, you don’t see the irony of their wealth mainly coming from selling their oil reserves?

Second, that fund can be dissolved an any time with a stroke of a pen. It’s just numbers in the ether. If they have so much “wealth” why are they taxing their citizens at one of the highest rates in the world?

No irony at all. They save for a rainy day. The high tax rates in all Nordic countries covers a lot of things that cost Americans. Health care, Post secondary education, social programs, long holiday times, worker's rights are all covered so the true remaining costs of living are covered without much problem after paying the taxes. Norway went the extra step of creating and supporting their rainy day fund.

 

[KrisZ]

No irony at all. They save for a rainy day. The high tax rates in all Nordic countries covers a lot of things that cost Americans. Health care, Post secondary education, social programs, long holiday times, worker's rights are all covered so the true remaining costs of living are covered without much problem after paying the taxes. Norway went the extra step of creating and supporting their rainy day fund.

Those aren’t savings though. The liquidity of these funds is really unknown. That’s like calling your 401k a rainy day fund.

And yes, it is ironic that people bring up the Nordic countries as examples of green energy implementation. That would be like praising Soudies for putting up wind farms. They have money to burn on these projects.

 

[JohnnyG]

View attachment 221907

Go Steelers!

 

[Sedin26]

No irony at all. They save for a rainy day. The high tax rates in all Nordic countries covers a lot of things that cost Americans. Health care, Post secondary education, social programs, long holiday times, worker's rights are all covered so the true remaining costs of living are covered without much problem after paying the taxes. Norway went the extra step of creating and supporting their rainy day fund.

Folks in the Nordic countries are routinely rated as the happiest in the world. Seems like most of those countries would be great places to live.