I saw two beautiful beasts of burden today. The first was a sleek, smooth, eye-catching, attractive car made by this tiny car maker from Stuttgart. You may have heard of them. You may have seen their cars. You will likely never forget how this one looks. She is a GT after all. Gorgeous from the front fender to the rear exhaust and all around... she's just the most beautiful of vehicles on earth. I saw her parked by the Earls on Broadway, by Pine Street. Someday, I would like to drive one and god-willing, own one. And if you're still wondering who the maker is, it is Porsche.
The second one was a GM-Allison Diesel-Electric hybrid bus. It has a huge battery pack on the top of the bus, but other than that, the chasis is a regular New Flyer low-floor bus. That's where the resemblance ends though. The Allison bus is gear free... it runs on electricity generated by the diesel engine. The whirring and clicking that the electric engine produces is strange to get used to, but the ride is quite smooth. The diesel engine is barely audible at low speeds, and as you increase speed, the engine moves up in rpm to whatever it is supposed to be at. Then you hear a constant noise from the diesel engine. The bus is ultra smooth compared to the choppier diesel buses. The lack of gears is a major factor in that.
It moves smoothly, sounds quiet and is at the cutting edge. Pretty neat eh? There are a bunch of other experimental technologies making their real-world debuts as test vehicles in Vancouver. You can read more on this Translink website.
The second one was a GM-Allison Diesel-Electric hybrid bus. It has a huge battery pack on the top of the bus, but other than that, the chasis is a regular New Flyer low-floor bus. That's where the resemblance ends though. The Allison bus is gear free... it runs on electricity generated by the diesel engine. The whirring and clicking that the electric engine produces is strange to get used to, but the ride is quite smooth. The diesel engine is barely audible at low speeds, and as you increase speed, the engine moves up in rpm to whatever it is supposed to be at. Then you hear a constant noise from the diesel engine. The bus is ultra smooth compared to the choppier diesel buses. The lack of gears is a major factor in that.
It moves smoothly, sounds quiet and is at the cutting edge. Pretty neat eh? There are a bunch of other experimental technologies making their real-world debuts as test vehicles in Vancouver. You can read more on this Translink website.
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