Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

I have just learnt that the top speed of a hybrid is 40 mph & very efficient in stop / start mode. If a hybrid is being delivered from it's manufacturing shop & needs to travel a few hundred miles to it's new customer how inefficient does that make it traveling on motorways at 40 mph with no stop / start any of the time?

http://www.hybridrive.co.uk/how-it-works-hybrid-bus.asp

Even when running for long periods down the motorway, the hybrid should still be slightly more efficient than a conventional bus as there is less energy lost in the electrical system than a convential mechanical drive.

I was on three of Birkenhead's hybrids yesterday .

I was impressed with two of the three , the other one i fear was struggling with power , with a serious jolt when changing from electric onto diesel then it felt like it kicked in , in the wrong gear.

A B5LH will do 50mph but at that kind of speed its parallel hybrid propulsion pack means it's being powered by the (small) diesel engine anyway. There are a handful of hybrid coaches in the US.