Apeldoorn Municipality introduces unique city bus with wheel hub engines

Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, October 6 -- Apeldoorn Municipality unveils a world-wide innovation in city bus technology: the Whisper. This new bus reduces energy consumption, noise and harmful emissions by means of an ingenious system called e-Traction(r), where the engines are mounted in the wheels themselves. This type of wheel hub engine (TheWheelTM) has never been previously applied to a city bus.

With this system, which was developed by the Apeldoorn-based company e-Traction, the engines drive the wheels. The engines are supplied with energy from on-board batteries. Every time the brakes are applied, the wheels return energy to the batteries. According to e-Traction(r), the Whisper uses at most half as much fuel and produces considerably less (90%) noise than a normal city bus: 55 dB instead of 75 dB, which is the normal noise level of a conversation. The Whisper is partly powered by green electricity, resulting in a reduction of carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions. Last but not least, this bus can cover at least twice the distance on a full tank as a 'normal' city bus.

e-Traction(r) conceived the idea of applying wheel hub engines to city busses, and Apeldoorn Municipality decided to invest in this sustainable transport project. The municipality and e-Traction received support from the public transport company Connexxion, bus manufacturer VDL Berkhof, power company NUON, and were subsidized by the provincial government of Gelderland. The public transport company Connexxion and bus manufacturer Berkhof provided a version of the Ambassador bus which was subsequently fitted with the e-Traction system consisting of, amongst others, TheWheelTM.

Apeldoorn Municipality has been investing in sustainable projects for years. The municipality is convinced that Apeldoorn's public transport also needs a push in the direction of sustainability. This is the reason for launching The Whisper, which will be taken into regular service by Connexxion from 1 January 2004. The Whisper is to be introduced during the week that Apeldoorn is hosting the international competition Nations in Bloom, when municipalities will be presenting their plans for sustainability and quality of life to an international professional jury.

For more information please contact:

Apeldoorn Municipality: Arnoud van der Steen, tel: +31 (0)55 580 17 34 e-Traction: Arjan Heinen or Peter le Comte, tel: +31 (0)55 521 11 11 Connexxion: Ton van Kampen, tel: +31 (0)30 692 65 34 or Cell Phone +31 (0)6 51 83 96 83