In this issue:
Advanced Energy (AE) Releases 2010 Program Report for the Plug-in Hybrid Electric School Bus (PHESB) Project

Next Steps for the PHESB Project – A Look to the Future

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Advanced Energy (AE) Releases 2010 Program Report for the Plug-in Hybrid Electric School Bus (PHESB) Project

AE recently released their 2010 Program Report for the PHESB Project.  The report contains a summary of the last three years of work on the project, including how the program began, why school buses were chosen for plug-in hybrid technology and how the project has evolved.  The report also features discussions on the three main stages of the project:

• Preliminary Feasibility Studies:  The technical and economic feasibility of plug-in hybrid electric school buses were evaluated.  This process resulted in formulating a basic design for the buses and addressing the economics of the buses from a school district’s perspective.
• Pre-Production and Manufacturing: AE and a buyer’s consortium worked together to specify requirements for the buses and made a final manufacturing award. Specifications developed by the buyer’s consortium included performance requirements, battery-depleting range and the lifecycle cost of the bus.
• Fleet Testing and Monitoring: Testing and monitoring activities were conducted to evaluate the performance of the buses.  These activities served to assess the functionality of the buses and to obtain real-world data on their fuel economy performance.

Click here to read the full report.

PHESB Survey Contest Details [pdf]

Next Steps for the PHESB Project – A Look to the Future

Throughout 2010, Advanced Energy’s role in the PHESB Project will change. We will be wrapping up our involvement with the first generation of IC Bus’ PHESBs, which we have supported for the past three years. Advanced Energy will still serve as a resource for districts with first generation buses, but will scale back our testing and monitoring of this fleet. Instead, we will turn our attention to the next generation of clean school bus technologies, focusing on:

• Continuing to develop relationships with other school bus manufacturers to help diversify clean school bus options for districts and look for new opportunities in the school bus market; and
• Identifying and evaluating several new technologies that warrant independent testing, such as a hybrid system retrofit for a standard diesel bus and an all-electric school bus.

These projects will help Advanced Energy broaden the PHESB Project into a more general School Bus Testing Program that can benefit a wider range of school districts.