ZF Supplies Products For 410 New Nova LFS Buses in Canada
26 February 2009
Nova Bus has placed an order with ZF Friedrichshafen AG to equip 410 new city buses in Montréal with the Ecomat 4 automatic transmission with the TopoDyn shift program and low-floor axle systems.
Nova Bus, which is headquartered in Canada, is one of the leading city bus and coach manufacturers in North America. In the next three years, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Volvo Bus Corporation will supply a total of 410 city buses to the Canadian public transit corporation STM in Montréal. The Nova LFS (Low Floor Series) buses will be equipped with driveline and chassis technology from ZF.
Order term of three years
"The Nova Bus order shows that the high quality and efficiency of ZF products are also highly appreciated in North America", says Wolfgang Schilha, Senior Vice President of the Bus Driveline Technology strategic business unit at ZF Friedrichshafen AG. "The North American market is very important for us and an order covering a term of three years is a good sign, particularly in view of the current economic situation."
High level of comfort and performance with low consumption
The latest development step of the Ecomat range which is installed in the Nova LFS buses can transmit higher engine torques of up to 1,750 newton meters and features an additional cooling unit with optimized performance. The six speeds of the Ecomat automatic transmission perfectly suit the frequent starting processes in city bus operation. This not only increases comfort for drivers and passengers but also saves fuel. In combination with TopoDyn, the intelligent shift program which was developed especially for city bus applications, up to five percent fuel can be saved with the Ecomat compared to conventional powershift transmissions. When traveling, TopoDyn dynamically selects the different software alternatives provided by the transmission control unit, depending on the topographical requirements. The transmission keeps the engine always within the optimum speed range.
After intensive comparison tests with alternative transmission concepts, STM Montréal opted in favor of ZF.
Front and rear axle for a low-floor concept
In addition to the Ecomat transmission and TopoDyn, Nova Bus has also ordered ZF low-floor axles for all 410 vehicles. The RL 85 A front axle with rigid axle support excels by its robustness and maintainability and allows for almost level access. The ZF AV 132 portal axle is used as rear axle.
Source : english.chinabuses.com
Editor : ZF
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