Hybrid bus: Fuel savings and less CO2 in Monza
In June 2011, a hybrid bus started to run regularly on the “historical” line of Monza. The chosen line connects two big mobility attractors, the university and the hospital.
The city decided to experiment with a hybrid bus to reduce the environmental impact of the public transport fleet in the city and especially lower PM10 pollutants. Hybrid vehicles typically achieve greater fuel economy and lower emissions than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), resulting in fewer emissions. The Municipality has chosen an IVECO Citelis hybrid bus, whose technical characteristics suit the city well. The bus features a diesel engine Tector 6 EEV (a last generation engine) that allows high energy storage with state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, it has a Stop & Start function for additional fuel savings and to reduce noise and pollution. In the first months of the testing the vehicle has experienced different technical problems that often required the intervention of the IVECO maintenance and assistance service. Despite these hiccups, a preliminary evaluation shows that the bus is very efficient in terms of fuel savings up to 30 percent compared to diesel engines, and in terms of CO2 emission reductions that went down significantly by 389 gr/km. The bus was first launched during the ARCHIMEDES project meeting in Monza from 9 to 12 May 2011. It will run on the line Z206 until June 2012 and after the final evaluation the city will consider the purchase and to gradually convert the entire public transport fleet.
Author: Guelpa Valentina
