Postbus passes pilot test in Switzerland
Swiss Post has announced that its hybrid Postbus has passed a pilot fuel consumption test. PostBus tested a hybrid bus alongside comparable diesel buses on a daily basis for a period of four months in order to gain a better insight into consumption and cost-related factors in rural areas.
Postbus – a subsidiary of Swiss Post – said the results were positive, with diesel consumption reduced by up to 30%.
Hybrid buses are already in use in cities across Europe. Thanks to the stop-and-go nature of city traffic, these buses can save enough energy to rely on an electric engine rather than a diesel one.
“The results confirmed expectations that the hybrid bus is also environmentally sustainable in this environment. No conclusive statement can be made with regard to economic sustainability as the test period was too short,” a company spokesman said.
The first Volvo 7700 hybrid Postbus began operations in the conurbation of Berne in mid-April 2010. For the purpose of the pilot, it was compared to pure diesel buses from Volvo (B7L), MAN (Lion’s City) and Mercedes-Benz (Citaro), which were run under similar conditions.
The hybrid consumed 20% less fuel than the Mercedes-Benz and achieved a saving of 28% and 29% respectively compared to the Volvo and MAN models. As such, the pre-pilot expectation of a 20% fuel saving was met.
In an overall cost comparison, however, the hybrid bus comes in behind its diesel counterpart. Taking investment, operation and maintenance costs into account for the same period of use and mileage, the overall costs of the hybrid bus are around CHF 11,000-15,000 more.
This is attributed to the higher procurement cost (CHF 520,000 for a hybrid bus; CHF 400,000 for a traditional diesel bus), higher write-downs and capital interest rates.
