The 155MPH electric Superbus is a solution to a non-existing problem
A Dutch company has developed this bus, appropriately called “Superbus”, as a luxury high-speed link between Abu Dhabi and Dubai (150km/93 miles) in UAE. The 8-millon dollar Superbus can carry 23 passengers at up to 155mph on a dedicated “speed track” and is seen by its designers as “the shape of things to come in sustainable transport”. Really? REALLY?
It gets better.
[Source: SuperbusProject.com | Images: DriveArabia.com]
The fifty foot long “Superbus” has an aluminum chassis and a carbon-fiber body. It is propelled by some electric motors which are powered by a huge battery bank located between the two rear axles. The batteries are also easily replaceable, probably to keep recharging times down. It also has 6-wheel steering to help maneuverability.
Design with aerodynamics in mind by an ex-Ferrari F1 Antonia Terzi, it has sixteen gullwing doors allow access to the twenty-three seats. Inside there are seats which face in both directions of travel, typical WIFI and TV stuff. And that’s it really. No stewardess, no drinks, no bathroom.
The Superbus’ 530hp battery pack indeed allows the top speed of 155MPH, but only on its specially made super track. Otherwise, it is limited to general road rules like everyone else. There is no mention of range.
So there you have it: length of bus, capacity of a van, cost of plane. And it needs a special track.
Now, if there was only a more efficient way of transporting people in comfort at a high rate of speed. Perhaps on a dedicated roadway which would allow for high speed and safety. And if it was perhaps just a little bit bigger, with the ability of transporting more people and cargo, at a high rate. And it would be great if such thing was energy efficient too, perhaps electric, or diesel-electric hybrid. If there was only such thing.
Technical specifications:
| Power train | Electric motors powered by lithium polymer battery pack and regenerative braking |
| Power output | 300 kW, peak at 600 kW for 1 minute |
| Driving range | 210 km |
| Acceleration | 0-100 km/h 0.1g in comfort mode |
| Braking | 250-0 km/h in less than 200m |
| Cruising speed | 250 km/h (155 mph) |
| Length | 15,000 mm (49.21 ft) |
| Width | 2,550 mm (8.20 ft) |
| Height | 1,650 mm (5.41 ft) |
| Weight | 9,500 kg fully loaded |
| Weight distribution | 34/66 |
| Torsional stiffness | 30000 Nm/deg |
| Suspension | Air springs and frequency selective dampers system with lifting subframe in aluminum |
| Ride height range | 330 mm (70mm to 400mm) |
| Chassis frame | Carbon fiber |
| Bodywork | IXIS Thermoplastic reinforced fiberglass |
| Glazing | Lexan Polycarbonate |
| Driving mode | Driver assisted controlled on existing roads, autopilot on Supertrack |
| Equipped with | Seat belts, airbags, TV, internet, air-conditioning, heating, etc |
| Provided with | Navigation system, obstacle detection, communication system, fail safe system and control system |
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I believe Jeremy Clarkson already answered this question:
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I'm sorry guys, I forgot, we hate Top Gear around these parts.
We do? *hides latest episode of TGUK
What's that publicly funded British tabloid television trash you've got there? I know I saw you hide it! Don't you dare delete your browser cache, mister.
Oh, and thanks for the reminder. I hadn't gotten around to watching the latest episode yet (busy week).
If my high school had something like this I wouldn't have hated taking the school but so much. Which probably would have lead to me not having bought my first car, and would not be as addicted to cars as I am today.
In conclusion the admittance of vehicles like this into mainstream use is as evil as it would be impractical, and yet still I think the thing is pretty cool.
Actually, they did have something like this in some schools.
http://caughtatthecurb.blogspot.com/2011/03/sagew…
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6g3mMd92n8w/TY5U8hCLc-I/AAAAAAAAAyY/S0smiY7kdFw/s1600/Station_Wagons_2b.jpg" width="600">
I remember 8-door Suburbans running around NYC in the 80s as airport service cars.
Engineering feat? Sure.
Necessary? No.
Useful? Not at all.
Abu Dhabi, hell, this is the perfect vehicle for I-70 across Kansas. Start running one of these on the motorcoach ski tours that a bunch of Kansas Citians take to Colorado every winter and you'd make a ton of money. Breckenridge in four hours? Sure, no problem.
Now that you say that, it could also be used on the Tucson to Vegas run. Might also make a good unlockable for a respin of a classic video game: http://desertbus-game.org/
(Also: it's been ported to Android: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tueidj…. )
Ah yes, let's develop a ridiculously expensive bus, using a faster high-speed train is such a silly idea!
<img src="http://www.hks-blog.fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/tgv.jpg">
A faster high speed bus that has to run on a dedicated road built just for it.
Yeah, a train might be faster, more efficient, more comfortable, and even have a nice person bring you food, but does it have gullwing doors? Exactly. Q.E.D.
For the appropriately modest fee in the single-billions, I would be pleased to design a gullwing train for you. With a minor smattering of Ferrari stickers, it will easily out drag a Concorde.
I think a train would cost 10 or 20 or 50 times more than this bus. Cities around the world choose Bus Rapid Transit systems over light rail for the same reason.
Exactly.
It costs significantly less per mile to lay dedicated "busway" than track. Buses are more easily transported on-site and more easily serviced. Changes to routes or layouts are significantly cheaper.
Incorrect. Mile per mile, rail is substantially less expensive to put down than track and also substantially less expensive to maintain at similar standards.
Add to the fact that this high speed busway must be grade separated from other forms of transportation just like rail and you've just about eliminated any possible advantage the busway had.
It's harder to make a BRT system work well than it looks. Putting together the grade-separated right of way can be difficult and expensive. As is building the dedicated busway, and the preticketing stations that expedites boarding. Most US BRTs wind up in the street for cost and expediency reasons, being obstructed by other traffic, and thus never perform better than the private car. While trains are more expensive than buses, highways are more expensive than rail beds. With a train, you also have the ability for a lower staffing level, which is a major operational cost for buses.
And… No development costst, as it already exists!
I'm sure this will end well.
[youtube bPpBGsFddao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPpBGsFddao youtube]
Just keep Stockard Channing the hell away from it.
Blast you, I was going to post that! Arrrrrrrrr…coughchokehack…rrrrrrf
You only need some guy named "Shoulders" to be the driver……
This looks like a very competent prototype. I think it could have potential for mid-distance intercity runs, like under 200 miles. Particularly if the capacity and length were reduced, which would also permit a smaller battery of a higher speed. Admit it, it'd be cool to take a run down the Autobahn in this, instead of being crammed into a commuter plane puddle jumper.
This is only a showcase for the Univercity of Delft and for the retired astronaut Wubbo Ockels. The whole meaning is finding new solution for eletric transport, and stimulate thinking about future transport. The same could be said for missions that went to the moon, what did they really achieved? I think they achieved to piss on the moon.
What did mankind learned from it? That's where it becomes tricky, radio comunication took a quantum leap, computing took a quantum leap, construction materials developed more than ever in short time period, etc.
A classic phrase (which I get to use in my job all the time) comes from a very obscure geeky computer rant: "A complex solution to a simple non-problem."
Though I think I'd substitute "awesome" for "complex" here.
But what I really came here for was to say: "Not just a bus…. SUPERBUS!"
<img src="http://hollywoodhatesme.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/supertrain.jpg" width="600'/">
"NBC's new series boasts the most flamboyant, extravagant and expensive set ever built for television."
There is mention of a driving range in the table (210 km/130 miles)……. Unless there talking about some ridiculously large driving range for Tiger Woods on steroids.
#nitpicking
Stick an upscale badge on the nose and this would be perfect for the suburban soccer mom who had been, like, really busy.