155 mph electric Superbus ready for the road
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Greyhound may be named after a fast dog, but it’s got nothing on this puppy.
A high speed electric Superbus built in The Netherlands is now street legal after the government there issued a license plate for the radical form of mass transportation.
The 23-passenger vehicle is being developed by a program at the Delft Institute of Technology headed up by physicist and former astronaut Wubbo Ockels, who in 1985 became the first Dutch citizen to travel into space on the last successful flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The sleek, 50-foot-long six-wheel vehicle looks more like a stretch limo version of an exotic sports car than a typical bus, and features 16 gullwing doors and a central seating position for the driver.
Powered by lithium-ion batteries it has a theoretical range of 134 miles per charge and a top speed of 155 mph.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dubai and Abu Dhabi have shown interest in building a road between the two United Arab Emirates with a dedicated lane for a fleet of zero-emissions Superbuses, which would run on electricity generated by solar power and complete the 75-mile journey in just 30 minutes.
Still at least three years away from production, with the license plate it can now be tested on public roads in the Netherlands. Along with runs up to 86 mph on a closed course, it has also been seen being tested on a snow-covered track, something not likely to come in too handy in its proposed desert home.