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EEVblog 1441 - Electric Buses are NOT a SCAM (Adam Something)

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EEVblog:
Repsonding to Adam Something's video claiming that electric buses are a scam. Lets analyse his claims and look at what's really happening with the cost benefit anlysis of electric buses vs diesel and electric trolley buses.



00:00 - Electric buses are a scam
01:20 - The claims
01:50 - Growth of electric buses in China
02:40 - Why not just put up wires in cities?
03:45 - Visual polution
05:50 - But they catch on FIRE!
06:38 - Batteries use slave labour!
07:20 - Cost of Electric buses vs Diesel
14:00 - Autonymous trolly buses
18:28 - Everything BUT fully electric buses are viable! Anlysis of trolley buses.
21:29 - Dave's practical table of Pros and Cons comparing the 4 options
27:28 - Electric buses are DUMB! Yeah, nah.



Adam's video:

SeanB:
Couple of things about having overhead rails. Hard to install, as you typically either have to use eminent domain to attach to buildings, or put up reinforced light poles, which each need to survive a truck impact, and cannot thus be break away, so lethal in any accident. Poles also need a massive foundation, the ones here that were retrofitted, using the original trolleybus poles from around 1890, went back in using a 10 cubic metre reinforced steel foundation, to handle the load of the caternary cables used to put lights in the middle of the road. Light cables, not 3 tons of cable per span.

Then the street side, you need to have a dedicated bus lane, hard to fit in most cities now, and also make passing sections with multiple overhead rails, as yon run both all stops and express buses in most cities. Also needs to have wires run to all the depots, and thus you are limited in where you put a large depot, in expensive real estate in the city. Safety is also worse, you just need one clueless van with a high ladder, and you have a system down for hours to repair, or one idiot truckie with an oversize load ripping the wires out, and no transport for weeks to repair.

Electric buses have an advantage, can go off route for diversions, can go longer distances without needing the infrastructure, can use the existing roads, and do not need a dedicated lane set. Yes you need to charge, but you will find most bus routes run only 2 peaks a day, morning and afternoon peak commuter time, and the rest of the time they run near empty.  Electric you can easily have the buses park at a charger after peak, and charge, with a subset running the day low level travelers, and then have them all available at peak again.  Here you will see every day 4 buses running in a line, during the day, sharing the one passenger between them, but morning and evening they are more or less full, even with the junky service offered.


Yes, like has a counter, dislike has none............

Chupacabras:
Those maintenance costs for trolley lines are calculated per 1 trolley bus? Or per how many trolleybuses? Is it for like 100 trolleybuses? I doubt it is 326k per trolley bus. And maintenance for electric bus is lower than for trolley bus? Hard to believe. Trolleybus is basically electric bus without battery. So maintenance costs for electric bus must be higher (just because changing battery is very expensive). Did you verify those data?

Maintenance for electric bus 3700euro/year, maintenance for trolleybus 9275eur/year, looks like BS to me.

wraper:

--- Quote from: Chupacabras on December 01, 2021, 01:49:21 pm ---Those maintenance costs for trolley lines are calculated per 1 trolley bus? Or per how many trolleybuses? Is it for like 100 trolleybuses? I doubt it is 326k per trolley bus. And maintenance for electric bus is lower than for trolley bus? Hard to believe. Trolleybus is basically electric bus without battery. So maintenance costs for electric bus must be higher (just because changing battery is very expensive). Did you verify those data?

Maintenance for electric bus 3700euro/year, maintenance for trolleybus 9275eur/year, looks like BS to me.

--- End quote ---
How about current collector wear?

Chupacabras:

--- Quote from: wraper on December 01, 2021, 01:54:38 pm ---
--- Quote from: Chupacabras on December 01, 2021, 01:49:21 pm ---Those maintenance costs for trolley lines are calculated per 1 trolley bus? Or per how many trolleybuses? Is it for like 100 trolleybuses? I doubt it is 326k per trolley bus. And maintenance for electric bus is lower than for trolley bus? Hard to believe. Trolleybus is basically electric bus without battery. So maintenance costs for electric bus must be higher (just because changing battery is very expensive). Did you verify those data?

Maintenance for electric bus 3700euro/year, maintenance for trolleybus 9275eur/year, looks like BS to me.

--- End quote ---
How about current collector wear?

--- End quote ---
Do you expect it to be any close to price of a new battery for electric bus? I highly doubt.

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