September 16, 2021. The 34 MAN Lion’s City methane hybrid buses are the first and only to combine natural gas and self-produced electricity, and Tper is the first Italian transport company to have chosen this more environmentally friendly solution.
An increasingly ecological and accessible public service: these are the assumptions on which the important supply of units for the metropolitan area of Bologna is based. In fact, new vehicles will gradually replace older ones on the city’s urban and suburban lines.
Lion’s City CNG hybrid buses feature 12 meters and 3 doors, air conditioning for comfort in all seasons, and a completely low floor to allow easy access for all. They also have a video surveillance system, a removable platform and an equipped place on board for people with reduced mobility, in addition to the stroller seat, now a distinctive feature of the Tper fleet, conceived in the name of maximum accessibility for each category of users, urban and suburban. Still on the subject of comfort, the internal layout of these units, with capacity for 29 seated and 56 standing people, is inspired by functionality and the pleasure of traveling, with seats mounted on suspended frames, as well as handrails and partition walls that are normally fixed to the floor: this allows a wider use of the floor by travelers and, for the company, easier and more effective cleaning in the interest of an ever better service.
On an environmental level, the new vehicles optimize the positive effects of fueling methane with hybrid technology, guaranteed by MAN’s Efficient Hybrid module, an electricity generation and storage system. During the braking of the bus it acts as an energy generator taking advantage of the mechanical energy produced. In the start-up phase, the electricity obtained is transformed back into kinetic energy. The current produced is accumulated electrostatically, that is, without chemical processes, in energy capacitors defined as UltraCap, lighter and more compact than normal batteries, with a longer life and capable of supplying large amounts of electricity very quickly. This technology enables intelligent energy distribution, combining the gas engine with the electric drive power, significantly reducing fuel consumption, noise and already very low emissions.
Lion’s City’s natural gas hybrid buses can also be powered by biomethane, or by harnessing energy derived from agricultural and urban waste, with substantial CO2 zeroing, further maximizing the virtuous ecological value of this strategic choice.
