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- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
T3G
Senior Member
Can you please provide a source that shows that the Flexity Outlooks, as we presently have them, could easily be converted to battery operation? I have not been able to find any product brochures but I am open to being corrected.
drum118
Superstar
I don't know of an source for Flexity conversion at this time, but doesn't mean there is not an way that it can happen 20 years down the road.
Why can other types of streetcar vehicles be converted today when they were built, battery design wasn't on the table?? What battery design looks like today will look a lot different in 20 years.
EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
which ones have been I thought all of the ones that use battery power were purposely built with them?
T3G
Senior Member
Batteries used for traction power can be fairly large. Have you seen, for example, the monstrously large battery tubs atop our hybrid electric buses?
Both photos are mine.
Your vehicle needs to have space for them. The Flexity roofs already have a ton of equipment, I don't see how such large batteries would fit into the equation without heavy overhauling (not to mention, is the roof strong enough to support battery packs and air-conditioning units?) And then the question comes down to money. Does it make sense to invest so much money into 20 year old vehicles just so that we don't have to look at wires?
I presume any streetcars which were converted to battery operation were pre-prepared for it. I scarcely see how our current Flexity design could be called so. They were certainly never billed as such in any promotional materials that I've read, and any manufacturer would be daft not to call out such potential anywhere they can get away with it.
drum118
Superstar
Deal signed to convert Metro trams to run on batteries | GBCC
Cutting-edge battery technology is to be fitted to Midland Metro trams Centro, the West Midlands public transport delivery body, put pen to paper with Spanish tram manufacture CAF to start work on fitting them to the Metro fleet. The battery equipment will enable the CAF-manufactured Urbos 3...
www.greaterbirminghamchambers.com
West Midlands Metro rolling stock - Wikipedia
EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
Ok one city is doing it i think we should wait until it happens and is successful or see if they just scrap them and order new ones before we even think of them in Toronto.Deal signed to convert Metro trams to run on batteries | GBCC
Cutting-edge battery technology is to be fitted to Midland Metro trams Centro, the West Midlands public transport delivery body, put pen to paper with Spanish tram manufacture CAF to start work on fitting them to the Metro fleet. The battery equipment will enable the CAF-manufactured Urbos 3...West Midlands Metro rolling stock - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
drum118
Superstar
More than one city, but let see what happen 2042 or about as it can happen here by then
EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
why did you only give one example then?
Bordercollie
Senior Member
How about battery trailers? Lol and the trailer cars could charge at terminus.
LemonCondo
Active Member
Deal signed to convert Metro trams to run on batteries | GBCC
Cutting-edge battery technology is to be fitted to Midland Metro trams Centro, the West Midlands public transport delivery body, put pen to paper with Spanish tram manufacture CAF to start work on fitting them to the Metro fleet. The battery equipment will enable the CAF-manufactured Urbos 3...West Midlands Metro rolling stock - Wikipedia
These trams only use battery power to go on newer sections of track that they were too cheap to electrify. They still have pantographs. This is not the way it should be done. If you wanted a streetcar that could be fully powered by an onboard battery and run a serious route like here in Toronto (and not a tourist boondoggle) the battery would have to be insane. Now you're robbing the vehicle of passenger space. Now you're making it heavier, inflicting more damage on the tracks. We don't have to reinvent the wheel on this, overhead wire is the way to go. In fact, we should string up wire for BRT as well! Battery busses that can also use overhead wire. Viva busses for example.
Or if trolley polls are a speed/reliability issue, try Siemens eHighway technology. Pantographs for rubber tire vehicles! We could string this up on all the BRTs in the GTA!
Come on man, anything is possible...
T3G
Senior Member
I would prefer trolley buses with off-wire capabilities, rather than the battery being the primary source of traction. Otherwise, your post is bang on. Wireless trams feel very gadgetbahn so that Toronto can feel like it's a modern, futuristic city.