Published at 12:21, Tuesday, 14 August 2012

THE Lake District’s first eco-friendly bus tour company is the first in England to use a form of award-winning hybrid technology to power a minibus Ashwoods, the UK leader in hybrid light commercial vehicles, has successfully applied its technology to Coniston-based Bluebird Tours’ 17-seat Ford Transit.

REDUCING COSTS AND EMISSIONS: Ashwoods Hybrid minibus Bluebird Tours SUBMITTED

Harry Kilgour, founder and owner of Bluebird Tours, which is helping to promote green tourism, said: “We have been running the minibus for several weeks now and both the drivers and our passengers are very impressed.

“It’s an uncomplicated system, doesn’t require any extra maintenance and is reducing our diesel spend and fuel use, while also lowering our greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Ashwoods Hybrid Drive was launched in 2008 and has since been fitted to hundreds of Ford Transit panel vans and chassis cabs.

The innovative hybrid drive technology reduces fuel consumption and Cº² emissions by 15 to 25 per cent.

The system is entirely self-powered by storing energy every time the vehicle slows down.

It then transfers it to the wheels via an electric motor.

Unlike other hybrids or electric vehicles, it never needs plugging into a charging point – and operators do not have to worry about the battery going flat.

Ashwoods recently began offering the technology on minibuses and has already shipped several to Scotland, but the Bluebird Tours bus is the first hybrid vehicle of its kind in England.

David Balchin, head of sales at Ashwoods said; “Bluebird Tours is a great example of how our hybrid technology can not only save on fuel and emissions, but also be a highly-effective marketing tool in the burgeoning green tourism industry.”

Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk