Hybrid conversion project progresses

By CYNTHIA AUKERMAN

News-Gazette reporter

Scott Byrum, alternative fuels manager for Productive Concepts in Union City, said his crew has seen some "positive and exciting" things out of the Randolph Eastern school bus that is operating with a PCI hybrid conversion unit.

The bus is now in its third week after some adjustments to the original system.

"We saw some things we thought we could make better," Byrum explained. "So the engineers went to work on it, and the system is now reinstalled. We fine-tuned it, and we are happy with its performance."

The hybrid conversion bus passed state inspection and went into use in January. After being used by two different drivers, the bus went back in for the fine tuning.

PCI will soon be getting two school buses from Ft. Wayne Schools and hopes to get them in service in November or December. Byrum is hoping for 10 more units for testing between now and the end the end of March..

"It takes a few thousand miles to validate the information and verify its durability," Byrum explained.

When will the conversion units be ready to hit the general market?

Byrum answered, "Our sales team is putting a program together to start taking orders in the first quarter of '09. There's been a lot of interest. The hybrid conversion shows its strength in stop-and-go driving."

Other companies are developing hybrid fuel buses, but PCI is the only company that has developed a hybrid conversion unit for existing buses.

"Nobody has taken an existing, in-service bus and put a hybrid system on it," Byrum said.

While there are conversion units available for smaller vehicles, what PCI is tackling is a little more difficult. Byrum said, "We have to make the system happy with a larger-size vehicle."

Hybrid conversion units aren't the only alternative energy market PCI is exploring. Its team is also looking at propane systems and compressed natural gas systems.