Lots of cities all over the world are investing in electric city buses because it makes a hell of a lot of sense. A city bus is an ideal application for an EV, since city buses tend to have fixed routes, they travel at low speeds and often in traffic, they could really benefit their urban surroundings by being quieter, they sit around when not in service (perfect time for charging), and more. It’s perfect. So it’s hardly surprising that Hong Kong is looking to add electric buses to its fleets. What’s a bit more unusual is that Hong Kong is not just buying some off-the-shelf EV bus, the city is building its own, and, even more excitingly, the bus look pretty bonkers. Like, confusingly bonkers. Sort of like a cross between a dragon and a porta-potty, or a rainforest and a file cabinet, or maybe a cybernetic turtle? I’m really not sure, but I’m delighted Hong Kong is going to let that freak flag fly.
(image: HK.ON.CC/Ruichang Motors)
One article, when machine-translated into English, states that people are saying the bus looks like “a king with legs” or “top ten big king with legs.” What does this mean? Isn’t a king with legs just a, you know, king? I tried looking up any Chinese idioms that might reference or explain this better, but so far haven’t found any.
Let’s just take a look at this thing, though, because it is pretty incredible. Based on the doors and some other details, it seems to be based on an Isuzu ELF chassis, but most of that body seems unique to these Hong Kong buses. These are technically known as “Jinlutong minibus” and is manufactured by Hong Kong-based automobile manufacturer Ruichang. The bodywork is pretty conventional from the roof area down, and is the color of a band-aid or a discarded prosthetic leg, but it’s the roof treatment that has most people baffled.
It’s green and feels almost organic, like a bunch of huge palm fronds were stacked atop a bus to inspire the design, or perhaps a large salad was decanted onto a shoebox.
There are black stripe-like panels all over the roof area as well which could be solar panels, though it’s not clear. I’d suspect they are, based on how little actual integration they have into the design. A pantograph – one of those folding arm assemblies used for overhead-wire trolleycars – seems to be folded up on there as well, possibly to provide a means of charging, perhaps even while en route? Range, according to this story, can vary between about 40 miles and 120 miles, I supposed based on many, many factors, likely including variable battery sizes.
(image: HK.ON.CC/Ruichang Motors)
The lower part of the bus also has some odd molded designs, with what looks sort of like insect antennae in the front and something that reminds me of old West saloon doors in the rear. Is that a cargo hold? Motor/battery access?
It’s very strange, which I’m all for – all cities should have their own peculiar and idiosyncratic bus designs, if you ask me, and this strange-hatted EV bus seems to be filling that role very well. I can’t imagine the unusual roof has a specific aerodynamic function, as the likely speeds for the bus are too low to make that a significant factor.
The overall electric bus program has about $10 million allocated to it so far, with six bus manufacturers approved so far. Each of these particular buses is likely to cost between $230,000 and $300,000 or so, which seems like a deal for an electric bus with what looks like a magic beanstalk strapped to its roof.
(Thanks, Kevin!)
Heres the reference to the kings with legs…cant be unseen
https://www.insider.com/ramen-isopod-14-legs-deep-sea-king-worm-woodlice-taiwan-2023-5
Ableist.
First thing I thought of was the TMNT van. TURTLE POWER!
https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f1b6d1d6-a948-4313-b9a8-b61a0428de5c_1.e8d4adb376998dc98d004dad7495c29f.jpeg
“king with legs” and “top ten big king with legs” are fantastic phrases.
It even has the same colour scheme as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle’s van!
The word machine-translated as ‘king with legs’ is actually referring to a giant isopod, a beastie that looks like this:
https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/images/made_new/images-olc-giant_isopod2_600_q85.jpg
That IS indeed a king with (many) legs
Is it supposed to rain inside?
My town just got some electric buses, but they look like boring ol’ regular buses. So lame!
The color of a discarded prosthetic leg?? What, they now change colors if you throw them out? Is this to let passers by know that the band-aid colored one is free game, but the cardboard colored one is still owned??
The discarded ones take on a sickly color because they don’t get sunscreen applied to them
Now we know what really happened to the Pao. Torch was traumatized by running over a prosthetic limb.
The weird doors at the rear are where riders must store their chainsaws. It’s a safety regulation. No exceptions.
The roof looks like the glass roofs on train stations to me
That’s the second biggest Mormon cricket I’ve ever seen.
So $10 million between 6 companies that is $1.75 million or 6 buses each. Not a big investment. But i wonder all this inane calling for metro transportation where in the USA it is only economically viable for 10% or less of the continent?
Ten percent of the continent by space or by population? Because there’s a lot of empty space on the continent.
Every single city needs viable, practical public transportation.
Every single city that actually deserves the title city needs public transportation.
I live in a bedroom community, called a city, of 10k people that’s literally 2 miles from city limits to city limits. Our public transportation is walking.
I might argue that establishing a public transportation system should be a requirement to getting a city designation. It might filter out all the places that are cities for the money but not in the level of service.
Because you’re right, that’s a town, and you could likely manage to get from one end to the other without a bus.
Not everything has to be economically viable. Otherwise a huge % of Americans wouldn’t get any mail.
Yeah, well nobody really NEEDS mail…ha ha
Here’s a fun fact. The reason why in the US everyone gets mail (at home) is bc previously everyone went to their local post office to receive their mail. Home (mail) delivery service developed in the US during the Civil War bc of the public disruption caused by parents receiving & reacting to letters from US Govt. (And confederate govt.) Advising of the (war) death of their children
In the rear view, it almost looks like the curved parts with the solar panels (?) could be movable? Maybe they tilt to catch the sun?
“a king with legs” or “top ten big king with legs.”
I’m gonna guess 蚱蜢 was lost in translation there.
They fucked up by not making their busses look like CatBus from Totoro! Lames
“They fucked up by not making their busses look like CatBus from Totoro! Lames”
That’s Japanese.
Almost certainly based not on the Isuzu Elf but on a Chinese version of an older-model Elf. Japan (and Chevy/GMC US) production hasn’t used those doors since sometime in the ’00s.
The doors are a feature of these buses. The drivers often open the doors for the passenger to get out even when the bus is still rolling, since there are often no fix stops, that’s saves milliseconds off the trip. Toyota Coasters the most popular chassis for these buses in HK also doesn’t come with those doors, but they are added on later.
With electric buses I guess they won’t be going at super high speeds like they are doing with ICE (they often go 80kph+).
Here are more history / chassis they had used https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Public_light_bus
Toyota Coasters are the most popular. DT’s brother probably have more to add.
There is a game called Mini Bus Racket.
You don’t get the complete HK experience until you get a ride in their red minibus.. the drivers go WOT all the time.
I think they might be referring to the driver door, the other ones look like normal bus doors
I mean, the folding charging arm seems like a no brainer if your city already has overhead lines.
A bus designed by a committee. A committee that obviously hate each other and don’t want to be in the same room….
No, sir, that’s the Ninja Turtles Party Wagon. I should know, my friend had one when I was a kid.
Beat me to it.
Cowabunga!
I hope some pranksters put pizza hub caps on one.
This is exactly what I thought when I saw it. That is just an updated Party Wagon!
Adrian and the Bishop need to weigh in. The roof and body are clearly designed by 2 different people, and they may not know the other person even exists. It feels like the roof was designed for a bus shelter and was misread as bus roof so they just ran with it.
> Adrian and the Bishop need to weigh in.
They took one look at it and died.
Well, now we know where the “designer” who created the roof on the Mini Cooper Roadster hardtop is working these days.
The doors on the back are clearly so they can store nightsticks and grenade launchers, or when not in that mood, the bodies of anyone who commits the treasonous and seditious act of listening to Glory to Hong Kong.
The Beige Unicorn finally has a Beige Dragon rival