European bus fleets reorder Allison hybrid technology to reduce emissions and fuel consumption
Sales of the Allison Hybrid system within the European bus market have grown in 2011. Allison Transmission – a leader in hybrid-propulsion systems for the bus market – has secured several new and repeat orders from operators resulting from initial trial purchases and demos. Allison’s hybrid system has demonstrated outstanding reliability along with significant fuel savings in European applications.
Fleets in Norway and Germany have recently put additional Allison H50EP-equipped buses into service. Five articulated Solaris Urbino 18 buses with Allison’s hybrid drive system were put into service in Oslo, Norway, on October 1, 2011. Joining the fleet of Unibuss, they will operate city services on behalf of the Ruter transport authority. In Dresden, Munich, Bochum, Leipzig, Düsseldorf and Neuss, trials are ongoing with many buses running alongside diesel counterparts in full operation.
As in the other German cities, sales of the Allison Hybrid System in Hannover are on the increase following a trial period. Since September 18, 2011, üstra Verkehrsbetriebe AG in Hannover, which transports around 159 million passengers per year, has operated 10 additional Solaris Urbino 18 hybrid buses, all equipped with the innovative Allison H50EP hybrid drive. Before, tests on the very first Solaris articulated bus equipped with Allison H50EP System had been conducted by üstra and the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems in Dresden for over one year. The results were convincing: on average they could save 23 percent fuel in urban cycles and up to 30 percent on special routes in city traffic compared to equivalent diesel buses. Also the CO2emissions could be reduced by approximately these values proportional to the fuel consumption in the city centre.
Üstra chose the Solaris hybrid buses with the Allison hybrid drive because it was the only option which fulfills funding requirements of the German government’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. To qualify for aid, public transport organisations in Germany have to buy hybrid buses which are proven to be at least 20 percent less fuel consuming than a comparable bus without hybrid technology. Üstra received 1.2 million Euro in aid for the ten new Solaris hybrid buses.
The new buses are in service on line 121 in the city centre of Hannover, from “Haltenhoffstraße” over “main station” to “Altenbeker Damm.” On the narrow “Sallstraße,” passengers as well as residents appreciate the fuel efficient, low-emission and quiet buses. The nitric oxide emissions of the new hybrid buses meet the EEV standard, and they have a closed particle filter system.
After running its first two Allison Hybrid System-equipped buses since August 2010, Düsseldorf Rheinbahn took delivery of five additional Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid city buses fitted with the Allison H50EP Hybrid in August 2011.
The Rheinbahn confirms that parallel hybrid technology is suitable for the regional local transport, because the diesel and the electric engine work equally. On bus lines like the 785 which drives from the city centre of Duesseldorf – where it drives also through the “low emission zone” – to the surrounding cities, the hybrid buses with parallel technology have proven themselves: diesel consumption declined and emissions were reduced.
Allison Transmission continues to be a driving force in the global hybrid bus market. There are now more than 4,600 buses with the Allison H40EP and H50EP Two Mode Parallel Hybrid Systems in operation across 216 cities and nine countries. The buses have driven more than 600 million kilometres, saved over 75 million litres of fuel and eliminated more than 197,000 metric tonnes of CO2.
About Allison Transmission
Allison Transmission is the world’s largest manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, medium- and heavy-tacticalU.S.military vehicles and hybrid-propulsion systems for transit buses. Allison transmissions are used in a variety of applications including on-highway trucks (distribution, refuse, construction, fire and emergency), buses (primarily school and transit), motor homes, off-highway vehicles and equipment (primarily energy and mining) and military vehicles (wheeled and tracked). Founded in 1915, the Allison business is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. and employs approximately 2,750 people. Regional headquarters with dedicated support staff are located inChina, The Netherlands,Brazil,IndiaandJapan. With a global presence in 80 countries, Allison has over 1,500 independent distributor and dealer locations. More information about Allison is available at www.allisontransmission.com.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plans," "project," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," “intend,” “forecast,” “could,” "potential," "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar terms or phrases. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks. Factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made include, but are not limited to: our participation in markets that are competitive; general economic and industry conditions; our ability to prepare for, respond to and successfully achieve our objectives relating to technological and market developments and changing customer needs, the discovery of defects in our products, resulting in delays in new model launches, recall campaigns and/or increased warranty costs and reduction in future sales or damage to our brand and reputation; the concentration of our net sales in our top five customers and the loss of any one of these; and labour strikes, work stoppages or similar labour disputes, which could significantly disrupt our operations or those of our principal customers. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All information is as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in expectations.
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Press Contacts
Claire Dumbreck, Propel Technology, Bloxham Mill, Barford Road, Bloxham, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK, OX15 4FF. +44 (0)1295 724130 / +44 (0) 7768 773857. claire@propel-technology.com
Miranda Jansen, Allison Transmission Europe B.V. Marketing Communications, Baanhoek 188, 3361GN Sliedrecht - The Netherlands , Tel: +31 78-6422 174. miranda.jansen@allisontransmission.com
Pictures - Further images are available upon request from claire@propel-technology.com
Press Enquiries
Claire Dumbreck, Propel Technology, Bloxham Mill, Barford Road, Bloxham, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK, OX15 4FF. 44 (0)1295 724130 / 44 (0) 7768 773857. claire@propel-technology.com
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