Michelin helps Big Bus Tours optimise tyre policy
Sightseeing company Big Bus Tours has reportedly reduced downtime and boosted the performance of its newly converted London electric bus fleet thanks to expertise and low-resistance urban tyres from Michelin.
Operating in more than 25 cities across four continents, Big Bus Tours has hundreds of buses and guides providing open-top hop-on-and-off sightseeing tours.
Jon Reed, head of engineering for Europe at Big Bus Tours, said: “Michelin said to us that from a cost as well as a duty cycle perspective, ‘the Michelin InCity EV Z is the best tyre for you’. And it has been.”
Big Bus Tours converted 20 Ankai specialist double-decker buses from Euro-5 to electric via drivetrain specialist Equipmake to meet London’s vehicle emission requirements and extend their service life.
While the conversion of the tri-axle buses progressed successfully with the final units completed this Easter, the change in weight distribution (and an overall gain of 800kg per bus) due to the newly installed batteries raised questions about tyre loading, especially on the steer axle.
Service provider Tructyre suggested bringing Michelin’s experts in. Carl Williams, manager of customer engineering support at the manufacturer, responded and – with support from territory business manager Ian Roberts – undertook a weighing exercise. This took into account the number of passengers and axle load to establish the optimum tyre pressures.
The resulting report proved the engineering concept. However, it also revealed that the operator’s previous brand of tyres was no longer suitable to meet the new demands, especially on the buses’ rear-steer axles. Big Bus Tours decided to upgrade to Michelin X InCity EV Z tyres, fitting them to all eight of the wheels on each Ankai bus via its in-house workshop.
“They are performing well, and we’ve had zero complaints of road noise,” said Reed.
“We seem to be getting less sidewall damage too. While we are paying more for them initially than our previous brand of tyres, the cost is worth it. We’re getting much longer life out of them.”
The company has been so impressed with the performance of the tyres, Michelin reports, that most of its 56-strong London tour bus fleet now wear them, typically sized 275/70 R22.5 aside from six Volvo buses, which run on 305/70 R22.5s.
Claimed benefits of the Michelin X InCity EV Z tyres include increased resistance to sidewall kerb damage and tyre splitting; 3PMSF and M+S ratings combined with Michelin’s Regenion technology to ensure grip in all conditions; and low rolling resistance delivering optimised costs per kilometre.
