King County Metro Transit in Seattle selected BAE Systems’ HybriDrive Series-E electric drive system to power 120 New Flyer Xcelsior buses.

According to BAE Systems, this is the largest order to date of the HybriDrive Series-E propulsion system, which enables electric drive modes to eliminate emissions from the vehicle and to reduce engine idling.

HybriDrive Series-E can advance transit agencies toward all-electric buses, making silent operation of the vehicle possible and challenging fuel alternatives like diesel and compressed natural gas with its clean, efficient functions. The electric drive not only reduces noise in and around bus stops, but it represents a greater impact on environmental sustainability for the communities in which it operates, according to the company.

“HybriDrive Series-E is categorized as hybrid drive system, but the fact is, it powers a bus completely electrically,” said Steve Trichka, VP/GM, HybriDrive Solutions, for BAE Systems. “Power from the on-board generator is either stored in the batteries or drawn to run the electric traction motor and the drive train. The technology provides our customers with a path to an all-electric vehicle.”

“With these new buses, King County takes another step toward improving the environmental sustainability of our region,” said Kevin Desmond, GM of King County Metro Transit. “The buses will be delivered with advanced electrically controlled programming that turns the engine off at bus stops and depots. In addition, the vehicles will have all electrically-driven components that use the vehicle’s electric energy instead of power from the diesel engine.”

The development and production of the propulsion systems will be conducted at BAE Systems’ Endicott, N.Y. facility, with the first delivery scheduled for 2014.

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