New Hybrid Drive Systems Allow Buses to Use 1/3 Less Fuel

Changing our own personal vehicles in order to have less of an environmental impact on the planet is definitely a worthy endeavor. However, one aspect of green transportation that cannot be ignored is mass transit, particularly the various forms of buses that appear in major population centers around the globe. Thankfully, companies like Siemens, who has had a recent announcement regarding such technology, are working towards turning those monstrosities of the road into greener, friendlier machines.

Siemens, the German based transportation and engineering company conglomerate, has recently hit the news with an announcement regarding their new Elfa drive systems for buses. The system in question is a combination of both electric and diesel systems, designed with the goal in mind to create fleets of buses around the world that would be far more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient than most models currently are. In this, Siemens has said that the Elfa hybrid drive system is capable of reducing the fuel consumption of a bus by approximately one third of that which a conventional bus using only diesel would consume. By drastically reducing the amount of fuel being used and adding the electric element into the drive systems, the carbon emissions given off by a bus using the Elfa are also be reduced significantly.

To achieve this reduction in fuel consumption, the Elfa balances out the use of electricity and diesel power in the bus in order to favor electric power for the driving systems themselves. According to Siemens, the system diverts a majority of the diesel in order to power the generator that in turn powers the electronic systems on board a new bus. With most of the diesel is taking up the slack for the other equipment on board, this frees up the electric generator and allows more electricity to be used to actually move the bus. Siemens has also noted that the change in fuel types for the various systems on board a bus using Elfa would also reduce the amount of noise a bus makes while in operation.

Currently, the Elfa drive system is being tested with a variety of fleets around the world including a major fleet in London and plans for another in Hamburg, Germany. Considering the fact that this allows for a smaller amount of diesel, lowered carbon emissions, and lowered noise pollution, the Elfa system seems like a good way to bring hybrid technology to public transit around the world.

Photo Credit: Francesc_200