Hybrid Bus

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Has anyone else heard about the new hybrid bus that Disney has purchased for WDW? I'm glad to see that they are moving in the right direction!

Apparently it's Bus #4984 and, as of December 20th, you could see it at FW. It looks like all the other buses but cost $1,000,000 - the cost of 3 "regular" buses.

Anyone seen or ridden this new bus, by chance?

 

[dexim54]

Has anyone else heard about the new hybrid bus that Disney has purchased for WDW? I'm glad to see that they are moving in the right direction!

Apparently it's Bus #4984 and, as of December 20th, you could see it at FW. It looks like all the other buses but cost $1,000,000 - the cost of 3 "regular" buses.

Anyone seen or ridden this new bus, by chance?

Never heard of it, any source for this info? I semi-doubt when they are cutting back so much they would spend that much on a single bus.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Never heard of it, any source for this info? I semi-doubt when they are cutting back so much they would spend that much on a single bus.

It's part of a test program, according to what I read. They are using it and a shadow bus to see if it cuts down on costs. It's a lot of money upfront but they are apparently cheaper to run.

As far as sources, all I have is the thread on WDWmagic.com. That's why I came here, to see if anyone could offer some more information.

 

[KYMickey]

Never heard of it, any source for this info? I semi-doubt when they are cutting back so much they would spend that much on a single bus.

With the low production volume for hybrid buses it's probably been ordered for quite awhile and was under contract so they had to take delivery. Besides its something to test for the future and may actually save money in the long run. Another plus is this great for PR.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I'm glad to see that they are moving in the right direction!

It looks like all the other buses but cost $1,000,000 - the cost of 3 "regular" buses.

Hmmm... Paying triple cost is a funny way of moving in the right direction.

MG

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Hmmm... Paying triple cost is a funny way of moving in the right direction.

I'm speaking from an ecological-ethical viewpoint, which also leads to economic savings for WDW.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I'm speaking from an ecological-ethical viewpoint, which also leads to economic savings for WDW.

I still don't see the economical advantage, but that's okay... sometime I'm slow.

I will take you at your word on the ecological-ethical part..

MG

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I still don't see the economical advantage, but that's okay... sometime I'm slow.

I will take you at your word on the ecological-ethical part..

MG

Well, yes, the environmental advantages are rather obvious.

As far as economical benefits, a hybrid bus is apparently a lot cheaper to run than one that depends on fuel. So, the investment in the hybrid is larger but it ends up saving more money in the long-run.

 

[cranbiz]

Yes, it exists, it is 4984 and does belong to Disney Transport.

Yes, it's a hybrid. The estimated fuel savings over the 20 year service life makes the purchase price worth it. If this one works out, look for more of the same.

It's 2 ft longer than a standard bus, no I have not had an opportunity to drive it yet but it has been out of the fort and used on the park to park runs out of the TTC. The difference between this hybrid and the one that was here last year is this one will fit under the monorail beam at MK.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Well, yes, the environmental advantages are rather obvious.

As far as economical benefits, a hybrid bus is apparently a lot cheaper to run than one that depends on fuel. So, the investment in the hybrid is larger but it ends up saving more money in the long-run.

Well, it's hard to save nearly $700,000 in fuel costs over the life of a bus.

As far as the environmental part, well, they are not obvious to me...

One example is certain batteries in electric cars. Once you factor in the energy used to charge the battery, plus the manufacturing and disposal of the battery, a gas guzzler actually may be more environmentally friendly.

That may not be true for the new busses.

MG

 

[cranbiz]

A WDW diesel bus gets 3.5 miles per gallon, the hybrid gets 6 to 8 MPG. A Disney bus travels about 150,000 a year. if you figure diesel at $3 a gallon (which is low) it costs $128,571 a year for fuel. The hybrid costs $75,000 (at 6MPG) a year for fuel. Over the lifetime of the bus, the fuel savings alone is more that 1,000,000. That does not include the savings in maintenance costs and the green savings with reduced CO, Nitrogen and particulate matter. Brakes last longer as the engine is used for braking.

Now if diesel rises in price, the cost savings goes up and if the MPG rating is higher than 6MPG, that savings adds up.

In the long run, its a considerable savings.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

A WDW diesel bus gets 3.5 miles per gallon, the hybrid gets 6 to 8 MPG. A Disney bus travels about 150,000 a year. if you figure diesel at $3 a gallon (which is low) it costs $128,571 a year for fuel. The hybrid costs $75,000 (at 6MPG) a year for fuel. Over the lifetime of the bus, the fuel savings alone is more that 1,000,000. That does not include the savings in maintenance costs and the green savings with reduced CO, Nitrogen and particulate matter. Brakes last longer as the engine is used for braking.

Now if diesel rises in price, the cost savings goes up and if the MPG rating is higher than 6MPG, that savings adds up.

In the long run, its a considerable savings.

That would be 14 years until break even... IF the "hybrid" portion is free.
I don't know what the bus will run on when not burning diesel, but whether it's electricity or natural gas, there will be a cost for the fuel. Granted, perhaps not as much as diesel, but factoring in that cost the break even will go well north of 14 years.
I will bet dollars to donuts these types of hybrids will be well obsolete before there is a return on the large initial outlay.

Oh well, I'm not sure why I even jumped in. It truly doesn't affect me either way.
I guess I get upset because I see cost cutting in other areas without regard for a return on investment 20 years down the road..

Thanks for the insight..

MG

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

One example is certain batteries in electric cars. Once you factor in the energy used to charge the battery, plus the manufacturing and disposal of the battery, a gas guzzler actually may be more environmentally friendly.

That may not be true for the new busses.

It's not true for these buses. You are talking about a primitive form of a hybrid car and, even then, gas guzzlers were not more environmentally friendly.

It's really hard to make the argument that something that runs on gas only part of the time is less environmentally friendly than something that runs on gas all of the time. Even with a purely diesel bus, batteries still have to be manufactured and disposed of.

Disney is not a stupid company. Why do you think that they would consciously make a switch to a product that was going to lose them money and be less-environmentally friendly?

 

[KYMickey]

Well, it's hard to save nearly $700,000 in fuel costs over the life of a bus.

As far as the environmental part, well, they are not obvious to me...

One example is certain batteries in electric cars. Once you factor in the energy used to charge the battery, plus the manufacturing and disposal of the battery, a gas guzzler actually may be more environmentally friendly.

That may not be true for the new busses.

MG

As shown in other posts there is a payback just considering fuel savings over the life of the vehicle. In addition maintenance costs are lower thus providing additional savings.

Were you getting your facts regarding environmental considerations? I've never seen anything supporting your position. Yes, the batteries are expensive to manufacture and dispose of but I've never seen anything stating a fuel guzzling diesel is a more environmentally friendly.

Another point is you have to factory in the lower pollution as a positive for visitors who don't have to stand around smelling diesel fumes.

Converting to hybrids certainly sounds like a win win for everyone involved.