We spent today in Indianapolis, visiting folks at GM’s Allison Transmission Division. Allison makes transmissions for commercial and military applications, including transit buses. The division was the first to discover the advantages of a parallel hybrid system (as apposed to a series hybrid), and developed the system 5 years ago for use in transit buses. In recent years, the division has gone a step further and re-engineered its system to be used in GM’s light-duty cars and trucks. The first application of the new two-mode hybrid system will be launched later this year on the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon, and will be featured next year on DaimlerChrysler’s Dodge Durango. When meeting with the hybrid team in Indianapolis, we were not only amazed at the amount of development work and the “get it done” spirit that exists within the facility, but also by the team’s pure enthusiasm over its product and belief that it is future of the auto industry.
Since beginning production in 2003, Allison has made 588 deliveries of its hybrid transit system and is by far the industry leader in the segment. Their product is operating in 46 North American cities, as well as Shanghai, Dresden and other places across the globe. Worldwide interest is growing rapidly, and fleets in France, Austria, Istanbul, Switzerland and elsewhere are showing interest in purchasing their own.
And while these buses sure have environmental advantages, there is a whole host of other features that make them ideal for communities everywhere.
They achieve large reductions in emissions that cause human health
problems: nitrous oxides are cut by 50%, particulates by 90%, carbon
monoxide by 90%, hydrocarbons by 90%, and carbon dioxide by 50% (due to
a 50% improvement in fuel-economy). Fleets across the county have
verified these numbers, and any doubt in them is long gone these days.
In parks and towns where they operate, the buses operate much more quietly, accelerate faster, and shift seamlessly (which is especially good for passengers standing in the aisles). Bus drivers have the advantage of faster acceleration when needed (the acceleration is so fast, that Allison has recently added a performance selector so that drivers can tune-down the acceleration when it’s not needed). There are also ergonomic advantages. For example, drivers have to brake much less frequently than in conventional buses. The system captures brake energy to charge the battery and in this way sort of brakes for the driver. And, there are cost advantages, since reliability is improved about 40% and maintenance is less frequent than on traditional buses. All in all, the system really is fabulous.
Development and production of the system has also created some jobs in
Indianapolis. Currently there are about 50 or 60 team members that
work in hybrid system engineering. There used to be many more but most were recently transferred to Troy, Michigan to work in the new
Hybrid Development Center that was created by GM, DaimlerChrysler and
BMW. There are also a few operators that actually build the
system (about 1 and a half per shift) in Allison’s powertrain assembly
plant. Regardless of the current job numbers, team members at Allison
seem thrilled to build such an efficient system and
believe that it is the future, not just for their division, but for the
entire auto industry.
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