(25 Jul 2020, 7:16 am)ne14ne1 wrote Yeah I was going to say the Gemini 3 hybrids in London are much better. They seem much smoother and seem to last purely on battery way longer than our Gemini 2 hybrids.
Our Coaster hybrids seem to only manage, what, maybe 10mph on battery before it feels there’s a complete lose of acceleration while the diesel starts up & the bus regains momentum. Don’t know if it’s a horrible gearbox but the transition from electric to diesel isn’t exactly seamless.
When I used to commute on the 308 hybrids I’d cringe as they pulled out of the Corner House bus stop into busy fairly quick moving traffic & it felt like we lost all acceleration when the electric motor handed over to the Diesel engine.
How tech has developed since.
Defo mate, its a shame the Euro5 models weren't so good, because I'm sure they were put off by them, as they were with the demonstrator B5TLs they had too. The Euro6 models are some of the best buses for both passenger and driver. They feel as if they float along the road. If GNE purchased them for a route like the 56 for example, they'd soon reap the benefits. They're very fuel-efficient and super reliable. Having said that I found an old document that might be of interest to some viewers. It shares a brief comparison between the E400H and B5LH.
http://www.lowcvp.org.uk/assets/presenta...xpress.pdf