

Grid-connected Electric Buses Could Displace Diesels - EEGuy
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/transportation/mass-transit/gridconnected-electric-buses-could-displace-diesels

======
stephengillie
An electric-grid bus system is highly successful in Seattle. They reviewed the
"trolleybus" system in 2011 and it continues to operate.

[http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/projects/trolleyevaluation.ht...](http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/projects/trolleyevaluation.html)

~~~
wcummings
Boston also has these, some are still diesel, though.

~~~
stephengillie
The electric buses constitute only a small fleet of one bus company, out of
the handful operating in Seattle.

------
walshemj
You know I thought you where supposed to write about one thing at a time.

This article is about two separate and almost totally unconnected things.

1 using hybrid vehicles as load balancers for grid (highly inefficient BTW) 2
replacing diesel busses with electric vehicles.

BTW a grid connected bus is called a trolleybus.

~~~
Moru
Here in Sweden we have some battery-buss that can travel 60 minutes on a 5
minute charge. It just stops at the end station for five minutes and then runs
it's round again. Still on testing stage. Very comfortable and quiet, tried it
last time I took the bus :-)

[http://hybricon.se/word/projects/buses/](http://hybricon.se/word/projects/buses/)

~~~
jacquesm
That's extremely nicely packaged tech. Thanks for posting this. Electrical
buses have been around just about forever but this is by far the nicest
integrated whole that I've seen.

~~~
Moru
Glad you liked it!

When you ride the bus you get a nice lecture in english and swedish by the
busdriver that functions like an adverticement pillar for the company. The bus
goes to/from the airport and passes by the university so I guess they know
what customers they have :-)

------
jmspring
This reminds me of he guy who hacked to prius to run on the Muni lines in SF
--

[http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/4717-hacked-prius-
runn...](http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/4717-hacked-prius-running-on-
muni-power-lines)

~~~
userbinator
Unfortunately it was an April Fools, but Trollius would've been a great name
for it.

------
jarvuschris
Funny that a guy named Firestone is hyping it, considering what happened the
last time grid-connected electric vehicles became popular:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy)

~~~
eli
...allegedly. It's got "conspiracy" in the title for a reason.

~~~
lobster_johnson
The word "conspiracy" does not imply lack of evidence (although it's often
used that way in popular culture). In fact, "conspiracy" is a legal term [1]
describing an illegal act of collusion.

And in this case, part of the conspiracy was confirmed by the court, and there
were some convictions. From Wikipedia:

    
    
        In 1949, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California,
        Phillips Petroleum, GM and Mack Trucks were convicted
        of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and
        related products to local transit companies
        controlled by NCL and other companies ...
    

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(civil)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_\(civil\)),
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(criminal)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_\(criminal\))

------
Shivetya
Considering what school systems pay in fuel bills I am surprised there isn't
more effort made at state if not national levels in the US to come up with an
affordable if not subsidized by the Fed electric school bus.

It would eliminate the hazards of diesel/gasoline fumes for students; it has
been measured that inside the parked bus actually can be worse than outside so
many districts forbid parked buses from idling. Throw in the sheer amount of
fuel used and they should recoup their costs. However I expect some to go the
natural gas route as its known and cheaper.

~~~
ams6110
Our local school system looked into hybrid buses a few years ago. Amazingly
they did a rather unbiased analysis and found that there was not a financial
advantage to be realized and they stayed with conventional gasoline and diesel
buses.

Natural gas is likely the cleaner but still practical compromise. Remember
school buses are also used for things such as transporting athletic teams,
bands, orchestras, etc. to events that are farther away than the range of an
electric vehicle.

~~~
jessaustin
_...events that are farther away than the range of an electric vehicle._

This would be a reason to have four or five conventional-fuel vehicles. 90% of
most fleets could still be shorter-range.

------
tomohawk
Seems like hydraulic hybrids would be a good fit, too.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_hybrid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_hybrid)

I think existing buses can be retrofitted for a modest price.

------
EEGuy
Another concept for V2G possibilities, perhaps with more predictability and
utility than personal vehicle V2G.

No info on battery longevity, and the economic analysis assunes a 14-year
vehicle lifespan.

------
vertex-four
Here in the UK, most cities have at least some form of much-marketed hybrid
bus. I'm not sure how much they save, but obviously there's an incentive to at
least try it out.

~~~
lobster_johnson
NYC, under Bloomberg, invested grandly in hybrid buses, but after several
years the MTA decided to go back to diesel, blaming lack of reliability:

[http://www.ibtimes.com/new-york-city-scrapping-nearly-
fourth...](http://www.ibtimes.com/new-york-city-scrapping-nearly-fourth-its-
hybrid-bus-engines-100-diesel-bus-engines-1329977)

