Blue Bird will begin production of its Autogas and gasoline Vision school buses integrating Ford’s all-new 7.3L V8 engine and a purpose-built fuel system designed specifically for school-bus application. The advanced fuel system technology was developed by ROUSH CleanTech, the same company that has manufactured over 30,000 LPG and gasoline fuel systems for Blue Bird buses equipped with Ford’s 6.8L engine.

“The exclusive partnership between Blue Bird, ROUSH CleanTech and Ford continues to flourish as we launch Ford’s new engine with cutting-edge fuel systems in our Vision and Micro Bird school buses,” said Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird Corporation. “We have already heard excitement from our customers about this compact, more powerful and easier-to-maintain engine with better fuel economy.”

Ford’s new 350-horsepower 7.3L engine is lighter and narrower than the previous 6.8L, allowing more room for service work. Innovations for the fuel system, known as Gen 5, include stronger and lighter forged fuel rails and unique routing that keeps the engine-fuel distribution well organised. The system benefits from all of Ford’s performance and quality characteristics, such as horsepower, torque and towing, while maintaining the outstanding OEM factory warranty.

ROUSH CleanTech’s Gen 5 Autogas engine is certified to California Air Resources Board’s optional low NOx emissions standard of 0.05 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr). The Gen 5 system reduces NOx and greenhouse gas emissions, which helps optimise fuel efficiency, and can operate on renewable LPG, which further reduces emissions and carbon levels. The engine is designed to meet current and future emissions requirements. For more information, please check this link.

3 February