Go-Ahead London has been testing an ADL Enviro200 retrofitted with Allison’s latest fuel saving technology
Real-world trials of an ADL Enviro200 retrofitted with Allison’s xFE transmission hardware and FuelSense 2.0 software are showing fuel economy improvements of up to 7.13%, and an average across seasons of 4.37%, the manufacturer has announced. The 15-month study demonstrated the financial savings achievable when mid-life bus upgrades include the adoption of Allison’s transmission package.
The ongoing trial, which started in August 2018, measured fuel consumption during the daily working routine of the ADL single-decker equipped with an Allison T 2100 transmission. The tests were conducted independently of Allison by Go-Ahead London and ADL. As a result of the consistent findings over a 15-month period, ADL has formulated an upgrade programme for UK customers running Allison Transmissions.
The Enviro200 operates out of Go-Ahead’s Stockwell depot where it has covered approximately 2,400 miles per month since being added to the fleet in 2013. Fuel consumption was initially measured without xFE hardware installed and with Allison’s first-generation FuelSense software, before measuring again after fitting xFE and the latest FuelSense 2.0 software.
After 36,000 miles of testing, it was found that that the update could cut fuel bills on this route by up to £2,000 per bus per year, which would mean a potential fuel saving of £28,000 per year if all 14 buses in the depot were fitted, and save approximately 27,860 kg of CO2 per year.
Richard Harrington, Go-Ahead London Engineering Director, commented: “This was a realistic and rigorous trial on the roads of one of the world’s busiest cities. We were interested to see how, through configuration of the transmission software, operators can choose their own balance between fuel economy and performance, and we were impressed by the fuel savings.”
The xFE incorporates a newly-designed torque converter lockup clutch enabling first gear lock up at low speeds coupled with FuelSense 2.0 technology, which it says makes the T 2100 xFE ideally suited for transit and city buses. Allison’s FuelSense 2.0 software features Neutral at Stop and coast coupled with DynActive shifting, which employs a real-time learning algorithm to find the ideal balance of fuel consumption and performance.
