New Flyer to offer fuel-saving Allison Transmission tech

New Flyer of America Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of New Flyer Industries Inc., announced that it will offer FuelSense 2.0 featuring DynActive™ Shifting beginning October 2017. The fuel-saving technology from Allison Transmission delivers up to 6% additional fuel savings beyond the company’s original FuelSense software.

“New Flyer is proud to enhance the efficiency of Xcelsior® buses with FuelSense technology,” said Wayne Joseph, president, New Flyer of America. “Through constant innovation and working closely with companies like Allison, we are able to offer customers a cleaner, greener bus that lends greater sustainability and environmental stewardship to their communities.”

Introduced in March 2014, Allison’s FuelSense packages enabled significant fuel economy improvements. Through a set of proprietary software enhancements, the new FuelSense 2.0 technology uses DynActive Shifting to provide an infinitely variable combination of shift points. FuelSense 2.0 uses a learning algorithm to continuously find the ideal balance of fuel economy and performance.

“This latest technology further reduces fuel consumption in all segments of a vehicle’s duty-cycle,” said Heidi Schutte, VP, marketing and sales for the Americas, with Allison Transmission. “FuelSense 2.0 offers increased specification flexibility and delivers the best economic value to our customers.”

Providing maximum value for applications with heavy start-stop needs, FuelSense 2.0 is ideally suited for New Flyer’s transit customers. With more than three million test miles in customer fleets representing a variety of duty-cycles, the fleets have experienced fuel economy gains up to 6%. This fuel economy improvement resulted in an estimated annual per vehicle savings of up to $900 based on duty cycle, annual mileage, and fuel price.

The available packages are FuelSense 2.0, FuelSense 2.0 Plus and FuelSense 2.0 Max. All three include DynActive Shifting. FuelSense 2.0 Plus and Max include improved Neutral at Stop. FuelSense 2.0 Max includes enhanced Acceleration Rate Management.

New Flyer also announced that the Government of the District of Columbia is purchasing 26 Xcelsior clean diesel 40-foot buses.

The City continues to replace its existing fleet and is using local funding for the purchase. The buses, which feature custom interior and exterior design, will be operated exclusively on the City’s DC Circulator service in Washington, DC, which caters to over 20 million annual visitors to America’s Capital each year.