DEVELOPMENT VEHICLES:
Developing new vehicles is a fundamental part of most bus and coach manufacturers' raison d'etre and the following photos illustrate some of their features..........
Weights.
Weights are used to simulate conditions which would be encountered with a bus full of passengers.
'Passengers'.
Plastic bottles - which can be filled to various levels to simulate the weights of different sized passengers - are sometimes placed in the seats during road tests.
Driver's cab.
Almost all aspects of development work are controlled, monitored or connected to computers and there were wires everywhere - sometimes (although not visible in this photo) outside the vehicle, as well.
For the export market.
This left-hand-drive, Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 is being tested to destruction..........
Recovery.
...........Well, not quite destruction, perhaps. However, the whole point of road-testing new vehicles is to identify problems before they go into service. On this occasion, the fault was found to be with a computer and the vehicle was taken back to the factory.
Hybrid bus.
I'm by no means an authority on the matter, but I heard it being suggested that all new buses being delivered into London after 2012 would need to comply with new regulations concerning emissions. Accordingly, several manufacturers are testing hybrid vehicles.
Test vehicle.
From the outside, this bus looks like any other. However, as revealed in the previous photo, It is driven by an electric motor - the power for which is generated by a conventional deisel engine.
Deisel-electric bus.
This is another deisel-electric powered bus. In this model, the original deisel engine was replaced by a car engine - which used far less fuel. The point being that the bus was 'driven' by an electric motor and the engine was only needed to generate electricity for the batteries.
Central London demonstration.
I spent a pleasant day demonstrating one of these buses to Government officials in central London.
Easy access bus.
This bus is an example of an experiment to place the 'exit' door at the rear of the vehicle (as opposed to the centre). The following photo shows the position of the rear door more clearly.
Side view.
.............Side view.
Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) bus.
This bus uses Liquid petroleum Gas (LPG). Interestingly, the fuel tanks are those things on the roof!
Chassis.
There used to be a time when delivery drivers were afforded absolutely no protection from the elements and they could be seen driving up and down the country wearing clothing similar to that used by pilots during WW2. Recently, however, the manufactures provide a little more comfort - not much, mind you!