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Fisher CoachWorks expects ultra-light hybrid bus to create 1,000 jobs

metromode, 8/14/2008

Fisher CoachWorks' new bus is expected to be ultra-light in size but heavy on job creation.

Heavy to the tune of 1,000 new jobs, mostly in Metro Detroit, within five years. That's when the brains behind the Troy firm expect to control 10 percent of the hybrid bus market.

They hope to do this by making hybrid buses with 'Volt-esque' gas mileage. The formula for doing this is simple. Make the bus half the weight of today's standard passenger bus to give it twice the gas mileage.

How? The company intends to use Nitronic 30 stainless steel. The steel is much lighter than regular steel and doesn't corrode, so the buses don't need paint. A prototype of the bus is expected to hit the road this week.

About 5,000 hybrid buses are manufactured each year, however that number is increasing as cities around the world, such as Ann Arbor, start to switch their bus fleets to hybrids.

"The governor of Maryland said he is only going to buy hybrid buses," says Greg Fisher, founder and CEO of Fisher CoachWorks. "The hybrid segment is exploding."

Source: Greg Fisher, founder and CEO of Fisher CoachWorks
Writer: Jon Zemke