Last week I managed two innovation events designed to grow the potential for Low Carbon automotive technologies in this country.
At the Automotive Council’s “Meet the Engineer event” we lined up 18 companies to present their technologies before an audience of the main car manufacurers and their suppliers in this country. Each technology had significant potential for reducing carbon emissions throughout all automotive applications. But the noticable common factor amongst most of the technologists is their preference for using busses as the proving ground for their innovations.
Why is this?
1) Busses are manufactured in Low volumes. This means they can benefit from earlier stages of production of the Low C technology. By contrast, production cars require the technology to be proven and then reproduced, faultlessless, many thousands of times on the production line.
2) Busses are big and therefore can adopt a technology before development has miniturised the invention.
3) Busses have larger engines and therefore the greatest potential for improvements in performance.
4) Already busses (and particularly coaches) are recognised as the lowest carbon choice in public transport.
So it was a privilage that we had the forthcoming hybrid Boris Bus from Wrightbus proudly parked in front of the exceptional Concept 1 venue at Millbrook last week.
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