RATP Group first in France to run NGV hybrid bus in Bourges

This model combines the economical and environmentally-friendly NGV Euro VI engine with a hybrid drive. With the advent of two new buses of this type on its network, RATP Dev subsidiary STU Bourges is continuing to improve the ecological performance of its bus fleet.

 
STU Bourges and Agglobus, the urban transport authority for Bourges and the surrounding conurbation, chose this hybrid NGV model which uses its kinetic energy to reduce up to 8.5% of its fuel consumption to produce a practically neutral CO2 footprint. The 14-kW electric motor recovers energy when moving and braking and assists the NGV engine when starting. 

In addition to being more ecological, this model ensures greater comfort for both passengers and drivers on the network with more flexible road handling. 
The Bourges bus network is one of the first to have applied a ‘clean’ vehicle policy starting in the 2000s with the acquisition of Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs). Now over 50% of the bus fleet on the network is “clean”. 

This experiment in Bourges is part of the global approach by RATP Group, which is strongly committed to the energy transition. The Group, a committed sustainable cities actor, is implementing an ambitious program in the Paris region, for example, where it intends to become the first operator in Europe to run a 100% clean bus fleet by 2025 ultimately consisting of electric and biogas vehicles. Another example of RATP Group commitment is London, where the Shepherd’s Bush depot run by the Group is home to the 100% electric buses on lines C1 and 70.

The Group applies the same strategy to sightseeing buses. RATP Group presented the first electric vehicle in London in 2018 to join the fleet of its London sightseeing bus subsidiary The Original Tour a few months after the launch of the first 100% electric hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus in Paris.