February 25, 08
Delft University Develops 49’ Long High Speed Electric Bus

The Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is developing a new bus that is able to operate on designated track. This new piece of future technology is able to operate at a very high speed of up to 225 km/h which is 155mph, there for it could be alternative to high-speed railway lines.

This highly streamlined electric bus can also be driven at lower speeds on existing roads and bus lanes. The length of the bus is 15m (49.2ft) and the width is 2.5m (8.2ft). But as you can see from the pictuers, the high of the bus is only 1.5m 5.6ft due to a specific arrangement of the seat inside the bus, which make more efficient than a passenger car.

The vehicle has three axles with 6 electrically driven wheels. Whether this is achieved by utilizing an on-board battery pack or fuel cells has not yet been decided. For increased passenger comfort, the suspension system can actively respond to known humps and bumps in the road. This knowledge about the road surface along the route is stored in a central computer.

A radar system in the front can detect obstacles up to a few hundred metres down the road and accordingly brake or steer the vehicle to avoid a collision. The road surface of the designated concrete tracks can be heated during winter, in order to melt ice and snow, using solar heat stored in the summer.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
STATUS: Prototype under construction
DRIVE SYSTEM:Fuel cell-electric or direct drive
ENGINE: Electric motor
POWER OUTPUT:
300 kW (402 hp) continuous
MAXIMUM SPEED: 250 km/h (155 mph)
SEATING CAPACITY: 30 to 50