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Post by redbus on Jun 21, 2024 21:58:51 GMT
Agreed. Any conversion would be suboptimal against a purpose built EV and if I were Wrightbus I'd be quoting top dollar for the work. The business case for such a conversion would surely not add up, but having said that, the blasted things were built without any kind of business case so who knows? I suppose LTs are unique in that they would be difficult to sell for use outside of London (compared to conventional hybrids) - as well as being owned by TFL. So an electric conversion for further use beyond 2030 might be better value than scrapping them? That said, the oldest LTs date back to around 2012 - so I'm not sure how long they would last beyond 2030 anyway, regardless of whether hybrid or electric. There may be a further consideration here, the Siemens hybrid system which I think the NRM uses. I believe it was designed to be fairly power agnostic, so it could support either full electric operation with a battery creating the electricity to power the electric motor, or a diesel engine / battery hybrid combination to generate the electricity to power the motor. As such, if much of the Siemens system can be re-used, it might not be so expensive to re-power.
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Post by vjaska on Jun 21, 2024 21:59:04 GMT
Agreed. Any conversion would be suboptimal against a purpose built EV and if I were Wrightbus I'd be quoting top dollar for the work. The business case for such a conversion would surely not add up, but having said that, the blasted things were built without any kind of business case so who knows? I suppose LTs are unique in that they would be difficult to sell for use outside of London (compared to conventional hybrids) - as well as being owned by TFL. So an electric conversion for further use beyond 2030 might be better value than scrapping them? That said, the oldest LTs date back to around 2012 - so I'm not sure how long they would last beyond 2030 anyway, regardless of whether hybrid or electric. An electric conversion would be heavily expensive than buying brand new electrics and then you've the problem of how reliable they'll be - see LT11 as a indication of how unreliable it is now it's an electric LT. The LT's were designed for a 15 year lifespan IIRC so I imagine it's unlikely they'll be surviving anyway. Modern buses are built a lot different to buses from decades ago where the materials were more durable and allowed buses to survive longer in service.
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Post by astock5000 on Jun 22, 2024 1:01:06 GMT
Wrightbus have joined the repowering game, establishing a subsidiary (called NewPower) at Arrival's former HQ in Bicester. This could be significant as they're the first OEM to get involved in the UK market; some First Bus (to-be-)ex-diesel StreetDecks can be seen in the pictures. Here's a list of other recent or active diesel/hybrid-to-electric conversion schemes that I know of: Diamond Bus / Magtec - 5 x MAN 12.240 Plaxton Centro Big Bus Tours / Equipmake - 20 x open-top Anhui Ankai GS3 Tootbus / Magtec - 15 x open-top Volvo B9TL Optare Visionaire Lothian Buses / Kleanbus - 18 x open-top Volvo B5TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Golden Tours / Equipmake - over 10 x open-top Volvo B5TL MCV eVoSeti And yes, most of the above is for sightseeing services, which I understand typically have a smaller impact on operational bus life than regular passenger services. It's not surprising that electric conversions would be most popular for sightseeing companies - the nature of that work (lower mileage, low speeds, whole fleet only needed at the height of summer, etc) indeed results in less wear on their fleets allowing them to last longer but also makes it harder to justify expensive new vehicles, while there will be increasing pressure for them to go electric due to their operations mainly being within city centres. Definitely interesting to see Wrightbus offering conversions themselves - had read recently that First were to have a handful of StreetDecks done but not who would be doing the work.
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Post by cl54 on Jun 22, 2024 6:42:58 GMT
One of the reasons for considering conversion of the LTs is the need for a lot of complete vehicles before 2030.
The question is whether or not there is capacity to produce the vehicles at the moment. The delays in converting routesis not only down to getting enough power to the garages.
BYD may have the ability the produce buses in China but getting them to the UK could difficult given the situation in the Gulf.
ADL are still not able to supply London specification versions of the new buses.
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Post by lj61nwc on Jun 22, 2024 7:59:07 GMT
BYD may have the ability the produce buses in China but getting them to the UK could difficult given the situation in the Gulf. Chassis are making their way through, their car are making their way through, the buses will be able to as well
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Post by matthieu1221 on Jun 22, 2024 13:59:01 GMT
BYD may have the ability the produce buses in China but getting them to the UK could difficult given the situation in the Gulf. Chassis are making their way through, their car are making their way through, the buses will be able to as well Without straying too much into geopolitics, there have been a few stories of Chinese ships making it very clear on the equivalent of what a transponder for ships that they are Chinese ships so they don't get boarded. So one could argue that they'd have a better chance of getting through
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Post by cl54 on Jun 22, 2024 19:11:17 GMT
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Post by yunus on Jun 25, 2024 23:23:21 GMT
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Post by cl54 on Jun 26, 2024 3:52:06 GMT
The conversion is possible. The 2030 date requires a lot of zero emission vehicles. Infrastructure is needed and UK Power Networks needs to respond. Interesting to see the photo shows First Group buses being converted.
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edvid
Conductor
Posts: 81
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Post by edvid on Jun 27, 2024 15:59:10 GMT
Another conversion headline - Equipmake now offer what they call a "sector-leading" repowering solution for the Streetdeck, essentially boasting they can do a better job of converting Wrightbus stock than Wrightbus.
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Post by cl54 on Jun 27, 2024 16:25:41 GMT
Another conversion headline - Equipmake now offer what they call a "sector-leading" repowering solution for the Streetdeck, essentially boasting they can do a better job of converting Wrightbus stock than Wrightbus. Or maybe Equipmake are supplying the hardware to Wrightbus?
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edvid
Conductor
Posts: 81
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Post by edvid on Jun 27, 2024 16:48:17 GMT
Another conversion headline - Equipmake now offer what they call a "sector-leading" repowering solution for the Streetdeck, essentially boasting they can do a better job of converting Wrightbus stock than Wrightbus. Or maybe Equipmake are supplying the hardware to Wrightbus? Certainly not the drivelines. Wrightbus have opted for Voith; Equipmake, their own product.
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edvid
Conductor
Posts: 81
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Post by edvid on Jun 29, 2024 22:19:09 GMT
Yutong's U11DD demo spotted in Victoria today, apparently with Reading Buses on the 702 (though it didn't look it). Not my photo, or the usual electric decker in London, for that matter!
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Post by mark on Jul 1, 2024 16:18:43 GMT
Yutong's U11DD demo spotted in Victoria today, apparently with Reading Buses on the 702 (though it didn't look it). Not my photo, or the usual electric decker in London, for that matter! I don’t think it’s with Reading Buses, which had a Yutong demonstrator earlier this year, and has opted for ADL’s E400EV for its BEV needs.
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Post by wirewiper on Jul 1, 2024 16:40:47 GMT
Yutong's U11DD demo spotted in Victoria today, apparently with Reading Buses on the 702 (though it didn't look it). Not my photo, or the usual electric decker in London, for that matter! It's got no display and appears to have no passengers on it. I too am very doubtful it is with Reading Buses on the 702.
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