E-MAIL
On Mar. 25, 2015, China’s first pure electric bus measuring 18 meters in length was put into trial operation on the bus route No. 57 in the capital city Beijing. Boasting the most spacious interior space in the domestic market, the vehicle is a new blockbuster rolled out by Foton AUV and will enter official operation two days later.
According to persons-in-charge from Beijing Public Transportation Group, the eco-friendly vehicle is a result of Foton AUV’s two years’ development & research. Moreover, it can be fully recharged in only two hours. When fully recharged, the bus can work continuously for 100 kilometers. With a loading capacity of 143 passengers, the 18-meter vehicle adopts light-weight monococque structure with low-floor access, which best suits the artery bus line in urban areas.
An interview with Liu Jihong, Deputy Director at BAIC Foton Co., Ltd. AUV Bus Technical Center by Chinabuses.com reveals that the new bus introduces Prestolite highly efficient water-cooling permanent magnet synchronous big torque motor with a maximum torque reaching 3,500 N.m. In terms of power, the bus is able to be plugged in power sockets for fast-recharging or use quick-recharging battery cells, which enormously boost the vehicle’s continuous operation time.
Using lithium iron phosphate cell with a power storage capacity of 215 kW/h produced by Beijing Pride Energy Technology Ltd. Co., the bus is capable of driving over 100 km on urban roads. Take the bus route No. 57 for example. The one-way travel is 24.45 kilometers in distance, which means that the environmentally friendly bus newly put on the road can operate for more than two round-trips and thus meet the daily operation demands.
In terms of noise reduction and prevention, Foton AUV also introduces the state-of-art noise insulation technology, which well prevents the noises produced by motors and thus helps the vehicle reduce its noise to the lowest level among its counterparts. Compared with other electric buses at present, Foton AUV 18-meter bus is six to eight decibels lower in noise. Thanks to this, the bus provides even more travel comforts for daily commuters in cities.
Adopting CAN-based whole vehicle monitoring system, the bus drivers of Foton AUV are constantly informed of the performances of the spare parts of the vehicles’ driveline systems. When any problem occurs, the system will immediately send out different grades of warnings so that drivers can take various measures to ensure the safe operation of the vehicles.
Staff from Beijing Public Transport Group also disclosed that the bus operator and Foton AUV are going to work together to collect and analyze the performance data of the new bus, in the hope of conducting mass production of the new type of eco-friendly vehicle.