DesignLine turbine hybrid buses take off in NYC, could multiply soon

Capstone's CMT-380 has proven that turbines, batteries and an unconditional love for Ma Earth actually can get along within the confines of an automobile, and now it looks as if the same type of technology will be touching a lot more lives in and around New York City. DesignLine, a New Zealand-based company with an "experimental turbine hybrid" of the same name, is currently being used in three buses in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and unlike petrol-powered alternatives, these are said to be as "quiet as a tomb." They're also environmentally friendly, omitting internal combustion altogether and relying on spinning turbines to recharge a Li-ion battery that powers the wheels. If the trial goes over well, 87 more of the $559,000 buses could be ushered into operation, and you'll know one's coming due to the shocking absence of creaking, sputtering and black haze rounding the bend to your stop.

[Thanks, Yossi]

[egloskerry Posted Dec 13th 2009 5:16AM]

@Sleet01 But don't you get cooked if you stand behind an Abrams?

[Sleet01 Posted Dec 14th 2009 3:56PM]

@egloskerry Depends on how close: you can cook your MRE on top of the exhaust grating in just a minute or so, but a meter or so away is the perfect place to dry your gear (and yourself) after, say, cleaning mud out of the inside road wheels in 40-degree weather.