Optare bus
Optare, the market leader for pure
electric buses, has announced that it is well underway with a project that will
increase the range of its MetroCity and Solo EVs to 200 miles with no net
weight gain and no intrusion into passenger space.
Much of the project is how Optare
matches high-performance motors and transmissions. The company is also looking
at battery technology and how they are packaged. Mr Munro adds that a key part
of extending the range of EVs is how on-bus heating is managed which can make a
huge difference to energy consumption and part of the project is to engineer
things correctly to use energy in the best way possible. This may extend to
pre-heating the bus during its overnight charge and adding insulation.
Keeping whole-life costs low is also a
priority. “Almost anything is possible with an electric bus, but we have to be realistic.
We could fit very high-performance batteries, but they would significantly
increase the purchase price of the bus. It’s a balancing act between weight,
passenger capacity and how much the operator is prepared to spend,” he says.
Work to convert a demonstrator and the
first of six in-service Solo EVs to double their range has already begun at the
Sherburn-in-Elmet plant, with the last to be completed before June. Mr Munro
also confirms that an electric MetroDecker double-decker is expected to debut
towards the end of 2016. It will retain the diesel version’s 18,000 kg GVW and
will not need to take advantage of the forthcoming relaxation of the maximum
weight for two-axle PCVs to 19,500 kg.
