(11 Oct 2019, 12:58 pm)streetdeckfan wrote

I was going off the fact that research shows that stopping 3 times per mile and getting back up to speed triples emissions.

The E200 weighs roughly 6 times the 'average' car when empty and like you say has an engine the equivalent size of 4 cars. Once you take into account the increased drag from the aerodynamics of a brick I fail to see how the emissions can only be equivalent to 4 cars.

I'm not saying that a bus is worse for the environment than a car, far from it, all I'm saying is with manufacturers doing everything in their power to cheat their way through emissions regulations, I don't see how anyone can trust the 'official' figures.

I'm happy to be proven wrong through independent tests, but I honestly don't see it happening

It's better than 4 cars because large diesel engines are a lot more efficient than small passenger car engines. They're above 50% thermal efficiency these days, where a normal petrol/diesel engine struggles to get 35%, I don't have time to dig out all the research I did when I was on placement to Cummins Turbo Technologies at the minute, but I learned a lot about large diesel engines and how good they actually are at converting fossil fuels into energy. This was in 2014, so the technology in a brand new Cummins powered E200 I imagine is getting even better.

I'd also say a bus ran by a company such as GNE has vehicles that are in much better condition than some of the diesel passenger cars driving around with their dirty black smoke coming out of the back of them, so there's another advantage to a bus. I'd be willing to hear an argument that a modern plug in hybrid or electric car is better for the environment than a bus, but they're expensive, and a bus pass is probably better compared to a dirty old diesel car that we should be trying to get off the road.