Brighton and Hove Buses has spent more than £9 million on 30 new electric buses with an extended range as the company aims to cut its carbon footprint.
The company said that the new fleet also had no wing mirrors, relying instead on high-definition digital cameras to eliminate blindspots.
It said that the new buses would be out on one of the company’s most popular routes by September.
Brighton and Hove Buses said: “Crucially, these buses can be set to run in zero-emissions mode throughout Brighton and Hove’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which includes North Street. This technique is called geofencing.”
The company is splashing out £9.2 million on the extended-range electric Euro VI micro hybrid buses, which are made by Alexander Dennis Limited and BAE.
It said: “These UK-built buses are fully electric – the electric motor drives the bus at all times – and they use a small diesel generator to top up the battery. Regenerative braking does most of this topping up.
“When the buses are running in zero-emissions mode not even the generator will be operating.
“They’ll be introduced on route 5, one of the city’s busiest bus routes, which serves areas including Hove, Hollingbury, Hangleton, Preston Park and Patcham.
“Buses with this technology use fuel very efficiently, reducing the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change and cutting our fleet’s carbon footprint.
“Lower fuel use also means they improve air quality by reducing NOx emissions, a combination of nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide formed during fuel combustion.
“These new electric buses will also improve road safety because wing mirrors are replaced by cameras, significantly reducing blind spots.
“Two high-definition digital cameras on the front of the bus give drivers a wider-angled view of the road and better depth of field via two monitors inside the driver’s cab.
“It’s the largest order to date of a mirrorless camera monitoring system being used commercially in the UK.”
Brighton and Hove Buses engineering director Steve Ambury said that the new cameras would dramatically enhance visibility for bus drivers and improve safety.
He said: “The peripheral view and the clarity of the picture on the monitors is far better than normal mirrors.
“It’s much easier to spot a bike coming down the side of the vehicle, for example. It shows it from a long way away.”
Diesel generators onboard, what a joke. Waste of money, please invest in true electric buses that can be powered from renewable sources not diesel.
The reason they have diesel generators on board is because their batteries cannot power the bus for their typical 14 hour working day.
The generators only fire up to charge the batteries when the bus is in a low pollution area.
Technology does not yet exist whereby a large vehicle can be driven continually without charging.
Still a Hybrid, no matter how you dress it up. Also, why use diesel??
Because it’s more economical and with diesel blueHDI technology emits NOTHING but water out of the exhaust!
If your not using oil then you Best bring down the prices for the commute. no company would spend 9 million without a very good reason knowing that they’re going to have that in return,,,”””oh know the planet we should get electric buses”” come on I bet the prices will either go up, or stay the same. Meanwhile the company is earning a ton of extra money.
Public transport should be free.