The Tesla of Garbage Trucks Wants to Make City Buses More Sustainable - Curbed "Wellington, New Zealand, had a serious issues with its beloved trolley system. Decades old, the vehicles rely on a system of overhead wires the city can’t afford to maintain, so it looked like municipal authorities would need to swap out the clean transport system for dirty diesel buses. But before the city revamped its mass transit system, a third way presented itself, a high-tech, more sustainable solution that may foreshadow a shift in how cities run their fleets of heavy vehicles, such as buses and garbage trucks.... The Wrightspeed hybrid system—an electric motor with extensive power and torque, a computer-controlled high-tech gear box and four-speed transmission, and a battery that’s charged by a gas-fueled turbine range extender called the Fulcrum—provides the push needed to move a heavy vehicle up hills with an electric engine, while giving it the extra juice needed to last through a long, arduous route with multiple stops. While the engine on a Prius works for a car or taxi, it’s just not powerful enough for a bus."
ingenius! too bad they couldn't keep the overheads, but at least a better solution than diesel. i'd like to see those around here on buses and large trucks, specifically fedex and ups.
Great first step...I am hoping Apple or somebody invents the silent trash truck, since many towns allow 24/7 trash collection. Now we at least have a quiet engine, which helps.
Didn't Wrightspeed make the X1, an BEV built on an Ariel Atom II? This sounds more promising than Via Trucks. A turbine can run on about any fuel. What would New Zealand use?
San Fran still maintains their cables for their trollies ... and last time we we through, they were in full use! Glad to see something old still being useful. I suppose each city's needs are different. Even so . . . each community can easily learn from the mistakes of other communities because Higher / Highest tech doesn't necessarily translate to lowest cost; Vancouver's Hydrogen Bus Program Is KAPUT! High Costs Kill Hydrogen Commitment | CleanTechnica Electric buses best, hydrogen worst Bottom line - New Zealand could have done a lot worse ~ .
Trolleys are cute and all, but electric buses seem a lot more flexible. IMHO, Houston has been wasting a lot of money on its limited use light rail lines (overhead catenary electric system).
SF has electric buses too - for a long long time. But not to be green. For the torque to chug up the steep hills. (yes, that's an electric car ad on the electric bus)
