FAW Orders More Enova Hybrid Drive Systems for Buses

7 October 2008

China FAW Group Corporation has ordered additional Enova pre-transmission hybrid-electric drives from Enova Systems as a result of the successful field trial of 20 Hybrid City buses equipped with 90 kW Enova drives during the recent Beijing Olympics. (Earlier post.)

Several China-based transit bus manufacturers participated in the trials. The FAW hybrid-electric City Bus is a 10m vehicle that is built by the Wuxi division of FAW Bus & Coach. The factory is now set to begin mass production of the new hybrid CA6100SH8 municipal transit bus which is designed for China’s increasingly popular BRT systems (bus rapid transit) and traditional inner city mass transit routes. This new model, with 10 proprietary patents, delivers a fuel economy increase of 38% and an emissions reduction of 30%, compared to traditional diesel buses.

In November, Enova and FAW senior management will meet in China to begin formal discussions on how to pursue a hybrid strategy for the Asian truck and bus market.

According to the KPMG 2006 China Commercial Vehicles Market Report, the annual medium and heavy truck and bus build in China is approximately 1.1 million units, with FAW holding a 22% share of that build.