Diesel-Electric Hybrid Buses: GM Supports Denver ...
General Motors deliver diesel-electric hybrid buses to public transportation organization in the city of Denver. The endorsement and use of hybrid bus technology is accelerating. ...
... The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) celebrated the addition of four buses powered by General Motors' diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system to its mass transit fleet. Metropolitan Denver is the 37th community to invest in transit buses powered by General Motors' hybrid technology, which offers greater fuel economy and significantly reduced emissions compared with conventional diesel
buses. Attending a media event at Denver Union Station celebrating the addition of the GM hybrid-powered buses to Denver RTD's fleet were U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar along with representatives from Denver RTD, Gillig Corp. and General Motors.
Buses powered by GM's advanced hybrid propulsion technology deliver significantly better fuel economy than traditional buses and produce up to 60 percent fewer oxides of nitrogen emissions and 90 percent fewer particulate, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. Other benefits of the buses include reduced maintenance costs resulting from extended brake, engine oil and transmission oil life; providing 50 percent faster acceleration compared with conventional diesel buses, and operational sound levels approaching that of passenger cars.
Since 2004, more than 445 GM hybrid-powered buses have been delivered to 37 communities in the U.S. and Canada. The estimated annual combined fuel savings for the 446 GM hybrid-powered buses is 650,000 gallons. By the end of the year, another 189 GM hybrid-powered buses are expected to be delivered. The clean hybrid technology is manufactured by GM Allison Transmission, maker of transmissions and hybrid propulsion systems for commercial trucks, buses, off-highway equipment and military vehicles, headquartered in Indianapolis. Gillig Corp. of Hayward, Calif., manufactured the buses. The two-mode hybrid technology in these buses has served as the starting point for GM's co-development with DaimlerChrysler and BMW Group of a two-mode hybrid system for light-duty vehicles that GM will launch next year in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon fullsize SUVs, followed by the Cadillac Escalade in 2008. " ...