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It's official, the first plug-in hybrid school buses are on the road and saving money in Tampa Florida. The buses can full charge in about 8 hours and will reduce emissions by up to 70% for the first fifty miles. At that point, the batteries pretty much die, and the bus runs as normal.
The buses are very simple, never run 100% on electric power, but use the electric drive-train to assist. The only problem is the cost. At $225,000, they're roughly twice as expensive as regular buses. To me, that seems rather ridiculously expensive, and I expect that cost to drop significantly.
Continue reading for a really lame local news video.
Via AutoBlogGreen
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written by Hank, July 26, 2007
It's very likley not going to be worth the cost...financially anyhow. But chances are that a lot of R&D costs are included in these first two units...prices should drop dramatically soon, and continue to drop for sometime. The problem is that city governments aren't known for striking good bargains.
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Say the bus costs $100k more than a regular one and that the typical lifespan is 20 years. The bus would have to save $5000 per year. Say, 200 day driving a year, it would have to save $25 per day. At current diesel prices, thats about 9 gallons. A 70% emmissions reduction, lets say a 70% reduction in diesel consumed, gives about 13 gallons a regular bus would have to burn a day.
Given that the batteries only last for 50 miles, I'd say the bus isn't worth the cost. Let me know when they make a true electric, not an electric assist.