ROUSH CleanTech’s 1/4-inch-thick steel propane autogas fuel tank sits just aft of the rear axle on the E-450 MicroBird.
“PERC received the funding request, reviewed the application,
looked at the feasibility and associated costs of the project and considered if the concept could be commercialized. Obviously, the conclusion was that it could,” said Mike Taylor, who became PERC’s director of autogas business development this spring. “In fact, it’s propane autogas’ benchmark of success in school transportation.” While product development and certification contained their
own challenges, Tompson pointed out that ROUSH and Blue Bird have a new challenge — how to create enough supply to meet the demand. “Now our challenge is we need more school buses quicker,” he said. “So we’re doing a controlled growth ramp-up.” Added Taylor: “ROUSH and Blue Bird are exceeding our expec-
tations in school transportation. Upgrades and improvements have been made in the product and manufacturing processes, which should enhance the sales further.”
HOW DO YOU SPELL SAFETY? T-E-S-T-I-N-G It was Jack Roush’s lifelong passion for hot rods, racing and Ford
Mustangs that drove the 1995 formation of ROUSH Performance Products, which has offered a range of aftermarket performance parts, vehicles and crate engines for nearly four decades. ROUSH CleanTech got its start in 2006 with a $1.2-million grant from PERC for development of a liquid propane autogas fuel system for the Ford F-150. It legally formed in July 2010 and officially launched at the Green Fleet Conference in San Diego three months later. Since then, ROUSH CleanTech has worked with Ford, Chrysler
and General Motors, along with permitting entities such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), California Air Resourc- es Board (CARB) and Texas Railroad Commission. “ROUSH has the in-house capability to take a product all the
way from an idea to market; we can design it, engineer it, proto- type it, test it, certify it with emissions sanctioning bodies and build the final product,” Tompson said. ROUSH also provided the propane fuel system for Blue Bird’s
Type A Micro Bird school bus, which debuted at the NPGA’s Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo in April
“
The large bus propane fuel system, seem here in color, includes billet aluminum fuel rails (blue) and fuel injectors (pink).
2011. Yet, the Vision represents the company’s first foray into the large Type-C school bus segment. Tompson stressed that extensive testing goes into building a
vehicle designed to safely convey children. Te fuel system, which includes a quarter-inch-thick steel tank about 6 feet in length, re- quires various types of safety testing. Flexible fuel lines run from the tank to the engine compartment and into the fuel rail, which feeds 10 fuel injectors that power the engine. “You have to do extensive durability testing on the tank, the
mounting scheme, etc. … We run a shake test to make sure that, at over 100,000 miles, this bus is going to hold and maintain the same configuration it had on mile one,” Tompson continued. “You also have evaporative emissions you need to control. Because it’s a gas- eous fuel that’s under pressure, we can’t allow it to seep or leak out in any way, shape or form. So we have control and testing labs where we test to see if there’s any leak at all.” He explained the fuel tank must withstand crash tests that
cover different impacts, from side to rear to front. Ten, ROUSH must conduct the emissions testing to satisfy CARB and EPA re- quirements. Tis can be done in-house at the company’s own testing facility, which includes an EPA-certified laboratory. “In developing the Blue Bird school bus, a mantra we picked
up at ROUSH CleanTech is: ‘We’re not selling and developing fuel systems — we’re selling and developing safety for schoolchildren,’” Tompson said. “If you look at it like that, now you’re not talking about steel and how it holds up, but about how you’re going to protect the integrity of this school bus for 10 years and beyond.”
EARLY REVIEWS POINT TO FUEL SAVINGS, PERFORMANCE While the commitment to safety comes first, other selling
points include vehicle performance and reduced fuel costs. Tompson and Taylor said the next-generation, propane-auto- gas Vision has already received rave reviews from school districts in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas and Virginia. “We’ve had a lot of great feedback from folks in Hall County
We’re not selling and developing fuel systems; we’re selling and developing safety for schoolchildren.”
— Joe Thompson, ROUSH CleanTech
www.stnonline.com 45
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