New Flyer Xcelsior


The New Flyer Xcelsior is a line of transit buses available in 35' rigid, 40' rigid, and 60' articulated lengths manufactured by New Flyer Industries since 2008. In addition to the different available lengths, the buses are sold with a variety of prime movers, ranging from conventional diesel and CNG combustion engines to diesel-electric hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell, and battery electric.

Design

For example, a New Flyer XE40 is a 40' rigid Xcelsior with battery-electric power.

XE Xcelsior CHARGE

The first battery-electric Xcelsior buses were a powertrain option within the regular Xcelsior line; development was announced in 2011, a prototype was shown in 2012, and regular production began in 2014. The original battery-electric Xcelsior bus, offered as an XE40, used a permanent magnet traction motor built by Siemens. In October 2017, the Xcelsior CHARGE sub-line was introduced including a nice ABS and TCS for transmissions.
operated by TriMet in Portland, Oregon, connected to an overhead recharging station
The Xcelsior CHARGE variant uses the Siemens ELFA2 electric drive system with different options for battery capacity, depending on the charging speed and range required. The traction motor used has an output of either and. Batteries are supplied by XALT Energy or A123 Systems. On-route rapid charging is provided through an overhead pantograph designed to be interoperable with the SAE J3105 standard supplying 300–450 kW. Shop or depot charging may be performed using SAE J3068 and J1772 connectors supplying up to 150 kW.
At Altoona, the as-tested empty weight of an XE40 was measured at with a capacity of 76 for a total GVW of. It was equipped with 4 XALT Xsyst 7 batteries and a SPHEROS fuel-fired heater. When accelerating from a constant speed, the bus emitted an average maximum noise level of 66.1 dB, considerably lower than the average maximum noise level of 70.4 dB measured from a conventionally-powered XD40.

XE60

The articulated XE60 adds a second driven axle, using the ZF AxTrax AVE on the middle axle. The AxTrax AVE uses two electric motors, each with a maximum continuous/peak output of and maximum continuous/peak torque of. Each motor is an asynchronous three-phase AC motor operating on 650 VDC with an input current of 250 to 340 amps, using a single-speed reduction gear ratio of 22.66:1. The complete axle assembly weighs
The as-tested empty weight of an XE60 was with a capacity of 120 for a total GVW of. Compared to the diesel-powered equivalent XD60, the XE60 is heavier and holds slightly fewer people. Depending on the driving route/style, the XE60 tested at Altoona had a predicted range of.

XHE fuel cell bus

The CHARGE model can be equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell, which acts as an on-board charger to extend range. Earlier New Flyer fuel cell buses were based on the preceding Low Floor chassis, designated H40LFR, and integrated by an outside vendor. In 2016, New Flyer received an order for 25 XHE40 buses under the California Air Resources Board Air Quality Improvement Program. The XHE40 uses a MAN SE model 1350 rear axle with a traction motor from Siemens; like the XE60, the XHE60 also uses a MAN 1350 rear axle as a pusher, but adds a ZF AxTrax AVE middle axle as a puller for traction-challenged conditions.
An XHE60 tested at Altoona weighed empty; with a total capacity of 132, the estimated GVW was. The fuel cell was a Ballard HD85 with an 85 kW output.

Deployment

The Xcelsior was introduced at the 2008 APTA Expo held in San Diego. New Flyer reduced weight by approximately 10% compared to its preceding Low Floor series, in the interest of fuel economy. Brampton Transit, serving Brampton, Ontario, was the first agency to order the Xcelsior.
The first trolleybus version of the Xcelsior was an XT40 built in 2014 for the Seattle trolleybus system, operated by King County Metro, the first unit of an order placed in 2013. King County Metro also purchased the XT60, and both XT40s and XT60s were subsequently purchased by the San Francisco Municipal Railway, for the San Francisco trolleybus system.
The first Xcelsior battery electric buses were built in 2014 and delivered to the Chicago Transit Authority and Winnipeg Transit. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was the lead agency for the XE60, ordered in January 2019 and placed into service on July 31, 2019. Development of the electric fuel cell buses is centered in California, with AC Transit serving as the lead agency for one XHE60, and SunLine Transit Agency, AC Transit, and Orange County Transportation Authority testing several variants of XHE40.

Competition