European Coach and Bus Week presents its winners
The coach Setra Topclass S 516 HDH was the big star during the most recent edition of the ECW. This top product from the city of Ulm did not only deserve the Grand Award Coach 2015 according to the jury but also distinguished itself in the categories Styling & Design and Ecology as laureate. The jury decided not to distribute the Grand Award Bus this year because in its opinion, no vehicle offers an added value on top of what the market has to offer today.
The jury did not take its decisions regarding the labels and the Grand Award overnight. On Saturday 10 October and Sunday 11 October they inspected, assessed and evaluated the vehicles before presenting their results to the Grand Jury, which set up the final ranking on Tuesday 13 October after a last inspection round of the vehicles and a long deliberation. It took a while, but as Busworld president/BAAV chairman Redgy Deschacht told us at the beginning of the deliberation: “1+1 is not always 2.”
Next to Setra, Van Hool was also invited on stage for the label Ecology with its three-axle EX17 H. The jury appraised the many efforts that Van Hool did on an ecological level in this segment, as well as the enormous progress that the Belgian company made.
The Safety label was awarded to the Volvo 9900, amongst others for the innovating Volvo Dynamic Steering (VDS) system. For many members of the jury this system is not only a Safety feature but also an improvement of the driver’s comfort. VDS automatically compensates for every bump in the road, absorbs vibrations and removes kicks in the steering wheel. The system also facilitates steering at low and high speed. Furthermore, the steering wheel automatically returns to the centre when the driver loosens his or her grip. Altogether the driver is significantly less tired after a ride, which in itself of course has a positive influence on the safety on the road.
The Comfort label was handed over to the MAN Lion’s Coach, specially designed for the hundredth birthday of the German manufacturer. They performed very well in both driver’s, passengers and guide comfort.
In the category buses the labels Design and Safety were not awarded. Granted, all the participating buses were fitted with advanced technology, but apart from that there was nothing that distinguished them enough from their competitors.
With regard to comfort the Isuzu Citiport did impress the jury, so they won the Comfort & Ergonomics Label.
For the Ecology label, the jury could not decide between the two electric buses of BYD and Ebusco and therefore awarded the label to both of them.
Next to the vehicles tests, ECW also grants Innovation Labels to other products in the exhibition. For this edition, five Innovation Labels 2015 were granted to: Volvo Dynamic Steering of Volvo Buses,
the Ario Drowsiness Detection of DTS,
the Babylon system of Integrabus,
Konvekta’s UL700 CO2 heat pump and
Magna’s electric steering pump.
These products are considered to be the Innovations of Busworld Kortrijk 2015.
