Dutch students have come up with a startling innovation in urban transportation – the Superbus. This 16-door vehicle looks more like a super stretch limousine but the resemblance ends there. The project is lead by the first Dutch astronaut Professor Dr. Wubbo Ockels of TU Delft with Dr. Ing. Antonia Terzi formerly of BMW-Williams F1 racing where she was involved engineering and was a senior aerodynamicist and Joris Melkert MSc, an aircraft man who’s also worked on the world’s fastest solar car NUNA3.
The all-electric, carbon-fiber-and-aluminum bullet-like bus will carry 23 passengers in luxury at 210 km/h (130 mph). A concept vehicle in development stage, the Superbus uses a ground-hugging chassis with independent gullwing doors that allow passengers easy in and out. It will be powered by a block of lithium-polymer batteries feeding two electric motors running at a minimum 400 horsepower and at peak power of 800 horsepower.
Passengers who’ve bought seats can text or phone ahead to arrange a pick up time and location and the bus will show up! Or pick a destination and it will map out the most efficient way to get there. All this with tons of leg room, train-like seating plus a work space. This sounds like a 21st century ride that combines speed, comfort and fun!
Superbus is a new concept for sustainable mobility, which consists of a new vehicle, new type of dedicated infrastructure and new logistics. For this new concept, all of the intelligence and innovation is put into the vehicle, whereas the dedicated infrastructure, where the Superbus runs at 250 km/h, is made of relatively cheap concrete roads. Superbus is 15 meters long and provides seating for 23 passengers. In order to improve comfort and to allow individuality, it has 8 doors per side.
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