First natural gas hybrid bus running in San Diego

San Diego's Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has announced the launch of a bus which not only features a hybrid powertrain, but also uses natural gas as fuel. The drivetrain was installed in a regular bus and it's made up from a Cummins ISB Gas Plus engine, a Siemens 165kW electrical generator, two Siemens duo inverters, two Siemens 85kW drive motors and Cobasys-developed NiMH batteries. Some alterations had to be made to the standard chassis to adapt it to the new configuration. The $1 million bus will not only improve overall consumption figures, but will also burn a cleaner fuel which, while still producing CO₂, reduces NOx pollutants and noise pollution. All aboard.

[Source: NGV and MTS]