MCI Electric Coach Prototype Meets Testing Targets and Heads to Market

MCI all-electric J400e coach prototype Des Plaines, Ill. — Motor Coach Industries (MCI), the US subsidiary of New Flyer Industries, announced that its all-electric J4500e prototype—a battery-electric version of J4500 coach—successfully completed its phase one testing. MCI said that the coach ran flawlessly at both low and high speeds up to a sustained 70 mph (113 km/h) on the highway. The all-electric J4500e coach is on schedule for January 2020 production and orders are being taken now.

The electric architecture incorporated in the MCI J4500e features a high-torque 2130 lb-ft (2888 N·m) Siemens electric drive system and a 450 kWh Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) Li-ion battery pack with high power plug-in battery charging to 100% in less than three hours. MCI will also apply the battery-electric platform to the D45 CRT LE Commuter Coach followed by the electric 35-foot MCI J giving operators the most comprehensive choices in purpose-built, all-electric coaches.

“We’re enormously pleased by these early test results—our all-electric J4500e delivered smooth power across varied roadways and impressive results in acceleration, handling and ride quality,” said JP Pelletier, Vice President of MCI Engineering. “MCI has covered electric territory before with hybrid diesel-electric coaches built in early 2000s that are still in service, but with the all-electric platform, we’re benefitting from New Flyer’s long time, battery-electric low-floor transit expertise.”

MCI President Ian Smart said that customers will have a range of charging options: standard depot charging, on-route systems or a multi-charge design.

MCI will now move its all-electric J4500 test to Northern California, where public and private operators are eyeing all-electric expansion for their key customers. Major Silicon Valley technology employers are expanding their own private coach shuttle systems attractive to millennial workforces. Success in this market requires a deep understanding of how employer operators will be using these coaches.

Visit mcicoach.com for more information.

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