All-Electric, Solar-Powered, Free Bus!!!
Adelaide, Australia, has become the home for an all-electric city bus, the Tindo. The icing on the cake: The Tindo (aboriginal word for sun) will get its electricity from a $AU550,000 solar PV system on Adelaide's central bus station. Even better: Rides are free as part of Adelaide's public transport system.
Urban driving, with clear and limited daily travel, can be an excellent opportunity for electric vehicles. And the Tindo should have more than enough range to handle its bus routes.
With an operational range of 200 kilometres between charges under typical urban conditions, the air-conditioned solar electric bus is able to carry 27 passengers, with 25 seated and two wheelchair spaces.
In addition to carbon-free operations, the basically noise-free operations also carves into urban noise pollution.
Made by Designline International in New Zealand, the solar electric bus doesn't have a combustion engine, which makes it very quiet and ideal for Adelaide Connector Bus service operations in both residential neighbourhoods and busy City streets.
The local government sees this as a staking out of a leadership position globally. According to Lord Mayor Michael Harbison:
Tindo and the solar recharging system at the Adelaide Central Bus Station represent a significant investment by the Council, in association with the Adelaide Solar City program, into building an environmentally sustainable City for the future.
Hat tip to AutoBlogGreen.