Our Propane Buses Outperform the Competition
A few months ago, we shared a gasoline school bus comparison done by ROUSH CleanTech’s Ryan Zic and a Blue Bird dealer comparing two gasoline buses: a Blue Bird Vision and an IC Bus CE. We received such good feedback that we’ve completed a comparison test of the Blue Bird Vision and the IC Bus/PSI propane models.
We used the same benchmarks to compare these propane school buses. Though, we didn’t get fuel economy numbers, we did get performance numbers. Both buses were driven on the same route with the same driver. The buses were judged based on multiple standards, including vehicle specs, acceleration, grade performance and sound performance. This is not an official third-party study. Zic and the dealer used their combined bus knowledge along with basic economic tools to determine the results.
In our informal test, we found that the Blue Bird / ROUSH CleanTech propane school bus:
- Outperforms on all 0 – 30 mph tests from flat to 11 percent grade.
- Sustains a 10 mph higher speed on 6.5 percent grade over 2 miles.
- Performs better on 11 out of 13 acceleration tests.
And, the Blue Bird OTIS starting system eliminates hard starts experienced on the competitive product.
We encourage you to tell your customers to do their own research and due diligence on the propane products. You’ll find more details on these results in our one-pager entitled, “Propane Bus Comparison Test,” which is for dealer use only and is not intended as a marketing piece for end users.
