Iveco Irisbus at the European Mobility Exhibition/Public Transport 2008

Irisbus Iveco, a major player in passenger transport on a European scale, presents four vehicles at the European Mobility Exhibition/Transport Public 2008, which takes place at the Paris Expo from 10th to 12th June.

The exhibits on a 610 m2 stand are:

- Hynovis Concept, a Concept Bus that brings original solutions to the public transport sector’s problem areas of the environment, accessibility, attractiveness and productivity;

- Crealis, which is Irisbus’ response to the BHNS concept (High Service Level Bus) aimed at improving mobility by a joined-up approach between infrastructure, vehicle, operation and services;

- Citelis standard diesel.

A suburban Crossway LE is exhibited away from the stand but in the same hall.

(See page 9 for the specifications of the vehicle exhibits)

Hynovis Concept, an avant-garde prototype

The Hynovis Concept is intended to validate several technological innovations.

Its unique architecture enables it to accommodate 8% more passengers compared to a conventional 12 metre bus, together with an overall weight reduction of one ton, an unrivalled performance.

Its hydraulic hybrid power unit is also a European, even a world, first: it reduces diesel consumption and CO2 emissions by 30%, and NOX emissions by 50%.

The background

Hynovis Concept is the outcome of a French research project launched following a call for bids by PREDIT (French National Programme for Research and Innovation in Land Transport), funded by the ADEME (French Agency for Environment and Energy Management) and the ANR (French National Research Agency), and given the seal of approval by the P?le de Compétitivité Lyon Urban Trucks & Bus (Lyon Urban Trucks & Bus Competitiveness Centre). Irisbus Iveco is the holder of this project.

Hynovis Concept is the result of a partnership with the RATP (Paris public transport authority), who defined the operating specifications governing the development of the project and who carried out the experiments, the INRETS (French National Institute for Transport and Security Research), who prototyped the hybridization and auxiliary systems, Michelin, who studied and supplied the tyres, Poclain Hydraulics who studied and supplied the hydraulic hybridization components, and Altair Engineering France for the optimisation and structural weight reduction calculation.

The concept was developed on a 12-metre diesel vehicle, an element of the vast majority of present-day bus fleets.

The originality of Hynovis Concept consists of taking a fresh look at the concept prevailing up to now with regard to buses.

To improve in particular its environmental performance, Hynovis Concept focused on the simultaneous correction of two deficiencies:

-  reducing its polluting emissions;

-  increasing its carrying capacity (so as to divide the emissions by a larger number of passengers).

This approach is unique, because a characteristic feature of the majority of the hybrid bus projects suggested at present is a significant increase in the weight of the vehicles, thus reducing their passenger-carrying capacity.

A substantial weight gain thanks to a special architecture

Hynovis Concept has a twin steering axle fitted with low-profile tyres, allowing the central corridor to be enlarged to 1200 mm alongside the front wheel housings (compared to 900 mm for a standard bus).

This configuration greatly eases the movement of passengers at the vehicle entrance and considerably increases the free flow of the operation, reducing waiting times at stops. This leads to an increase in running speed, a particularly attractive factor in the public transport sector, because it is known that the frequency of use of buses compared to that of the motor car increases greatly when their running speed rises.

Thus the environmental performance which is down to the architecture of the Hynovis Concept doubles as a result of its increased operating efficiency.

Its four small steering wheels eliminate the front seat access walkways. There is a double benefit for those with reduced mobility since access to these seats is easier and the risk of falls during the vehicle’s acceleration and braking stages is reduced.

The drive axle is located under the rear bench, eliminating the wheel housing and releasing a long platform free from any steps, thus allowing optimum furnishing and a passenger capacity increased by 8% compared to a standard bus.

Michelin has developed tyres with an improved rolling coefficient especially for the Hynovis Concept with a three-fold aim:

-  responding to the vehicle’s novel architectural concept;

-  improving the environmental performance of the tyres;

-  allowing a one-ton increase in payload compared to a conventional bus, to increase passenger capacity.

The load-carrying capacity is improved thanks to the “Michelin Durable Technology Infini Coil” technology, which enables an 8% reduction in the average rolling resistance of the tyres.

Hynovis Concept shows a weight reduction of 1 ton despite being equipped with a hybridization system, thanks to a reduction in the weight of the metal architecture and the installation of an engine with a smaller cylinder capacity (Iveco Tector).

This weight reduction by one ton compared to a conventional bus is one of the major features of Hynovis Concept, since weight is one of the main causes of over-consumption by a bus.

This weight gain also allows the carrying capacity to be increased by 9 passengers according to the standard homologation conditions, which equals 8% of the capacity of a 12 m bus.

Hydraulic hybridization

Hynovis Concept is fitted with two hydraulic systems: a stop-start starter and a braking energy recovery system.

The stop-start combines two functions:

-  stopping the engine while the bus is stationary, and restarting it rapidly (within 0.3 second) before it moves away again;

-  supplying the auxiliary systems while the engine is stopped, using an innovative electricity storage device via a mixed system combining batteries and super-capacitors.

The braking energy recovery system relies on hydraulic motor-pumps. Linked to a hydro-pneumatic accumulator, it enables braking energy to be recovered and re-input during acceleration.

Hydraulic technology was chosen because it currently has a very competitive cost price compared to competing hybrid technologies, while still showing very similar efficiency.

A 30% reduction in CO2 emissions

The 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by Hynovis Concept is composed of:

-  hydraulic hybridization: - 23% (of which 8% is for the stop-start and 15% for the motor-pumps);

-  1-ton weight reduction: - 5%;

-  tyres with improved coefficient of resistance: - 2%.

As for the emissions of nitrogen oxides, NOx, these are reduced by 50% thanks to the stop-start.

Visual, acoustic and climatic comfort

To break the psychological barrier that makes using a car preferable, Irisbus Iveco has made great efforts to implement an innovative design incorporating exceptionally large areas of glass.

Lowering the bottom line of the window openings and adding a glazing in the roof (on the right-hand side of the vehicle) allows a 20% increase in glazed area, providing an even greater all-round view of the urban landscape.

Significant improvements were made in vibrational and acoustic comfort. Hynovis Concept is the first bus to be fitted with fully independent, fully steering wheels, both at the front and at the rear. This solution allows standard turning and swept circle radii to be maintained despite the increase in the wheel-base.

Comfort is significantly improved thanks to the reduction in the unsprung masses and the independent damping on the right and left wheels, which reduces vibrations and shocks inside the vehicle.

The acoustic insulation was given special treatment, made easier by the design of the rear engine section. The use of an engine with a small cylinder capacity (6 litres) achieves a reduction of 6 dB in external noise.

An inertial air-conditioning system using a liquid coolant was developed for Hynovis Concept.

This allows a 50% reduction in the weight of refrigerant fluid and a 25% reduction in energy consumption by this auxiliary equipment.

This increase in efficiency more than compensates for the increase in the vehicle’s window area.

Irisbus Iveco’s reply to the BHNS concept: Crealis

Urban transport is undergoing a profound change. Having become an instrument of urbanisation and social harmonization, it occupies a place at the heart of the problems of future sustainable urban development.

The concept of the BHNS (High Service Level Bus), a real way to smarten up and enhance the value of an urban transport network, is a candidate for a strategic choice for a town to make in favour of a global system rather than just an investment in rolling stock.

In this context Irisbus Iveco has developed Crealis, based on the Citelis bus, to provide a solution that is both innovative and competitive:

·for service, optimising the idea of comfort and passenger information in a modern, welcoming interior atmosphere;

·with a strong image of a vehicle with a personalised design and profiting from being very easy to fit into a town.

Crealis is designed for use in traffic on a dedicated site (bus lane) or on a potentially high passenger volume route, considerably improving the quality of service (frequency, passenger flow, regularity). The development of dedicated sites or high volume routes is the essential key to better mobility. Freed from motor car congestion, the vehicles consume less, improve their environmental performance, provide superior comfort to the customers, and, above all, offer a much better running speed that is likely to draw car users towards public transport.

Crealis is developed and industrially manufactured entirely by Irisbus Iveco.

The vehicle’s personalisation takes concrete shape:

-on the front surface as a straight windscreen (from the Citelis bus) or a special sloping windscreen (here, the vehicle is called the Crealis Neo);

-through the following optional fittings: wheel-covers, glazed low-level windows gaining an additional opening on the town, and optical guidance developed in conjunction with Siemens Transportation System.

A superior quality service

Compared to a standard route bus, Crealis unquestionably represents a noticeable leap forward in quality that strengthens its image and is immediately recognizable as a superior quality service. Its performance immediately appears to be higher because its external shapes suggest dynamism and free flow and convey the idea of travel that is faster, more regular and more reliable.

This level of performance is combined with a superior level of comfort. On board, Crealis offers a welcoming layout that is roomy and well-lit, a good opportunity to sit down and relax. The use of quality-enhancing materials that are warm and natural, such as wood, contrasted with high-tech notes such as metallic grey and metallic charcoal grey, provides an atmosphere that is both stimulating and calming at the same time.

Crealis was developed around concerns about accessibility for all. Its floor is low and flat throughout and it is fitted with sliding doors, allowing better free flow for those entering/alighting, while at the same time improving accessibility for persons of reduced mobility, passengers with a push-chair, wheelchair users, etc.

It can be fitted with a Siemens optical guidance system that guarantees optimum precision when pulling up at stops.

Crealis offers travellers maximum comfort at off-peak times and reduced discomfort during rush hour, thanks to a variety of passenger positions and thus postures, which enables them to optimise the combination of journey time/use of this time/place in the vehicle. The standing room has greater value, not as space remaining when all the seats are full, but as a zone occupied voluntarily and by choice to enable a supplementary activity to be carried out (reading, face-to-face or phone conversation , using a personal communication device, listening to music, etc.).

To benefit more fully from the town and public space, Crealis can be fitted with glazed roof hatches and additional windows in the vehicle’s lower sides, as well as other layouts supplying yet more light.

Crealis incorporates various forms of information media (static and dynamic, visual and audible), enabling passengers to improve their journey organisation and to better anticipate their stop, but also to inform them of the nature of possible traffic problems, the effects on their journey, and opportunities to continue their journey.

For those organising authorities and urban networks who want to avail themselves of environmental performances that are higher than just the regulations currently in force, Crealis can be fitted with an EEV (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicle) power unit whose outstanding environmental footprint is above that of Euro 5 which will come into force in 2009. Crealis is also designed to incorporate new clean forms of energy as and when these are implemented.

N?mes, Paris and Maubeuge choose Crealis

The N?mes BHNS (High Service Level Bus) will be operational in 2010. It will consist of a 6 km route operated by eight articulated Crealis.

The Maubeuge BHNS comprises three routes totalling 28 km. The first of them will come into service in December 2008. The plan is to use eighteen 12 metre Crealis and two articulated Crealis.

For the contract signed with Irisbus Iveco to supply 120 to 170 articulated buses, the RATP specified a High Service Level variant that will be deployed to promote and work in conjunction with certain bus network development projects. This variant will incorporate the most innovative technologies in the passenger information area. Particular care has also been devoted to the interior design and comfort of this vehicle, as well as to its exterior design, particularly as a result of a special livery to enhance the value of the service offered to passengers compared to a standard bus route. Through an increase in running speed, greater frequency, improved regularity and punctuality and an increase in the hours of service, which will enable better connection with other transport systems, the BHNS represents for the RATP a genuine response to the needs of passengers and regions.