THEY ARE EQUIPPED WITH THE IRIZAR i8 MODEL
Latinobus – Scania Buses México / William Marroquín
Grupo Estrella Blanca (GEB), with 81 years of history, is one of the main conglomerates of passenger road transport in Mexico, connecting 25 states in the country and with 21 brands, offering three levels of comfort for travelers. Its fleet exceeds 5,000 vehicles and has more than 20,000 collaborators.
The group has had a long-standing relationship with Scania and its foreign K-series, which remains firm with the announcement in March 2022 of the first deliveries of Scania New Generation buses, with the K500 Euro 6 XPI platform, accompanied by the model Irizar i8.
With these new units, Grupo Estrella Blanca (GEB) is positioned as a sustainable leader in the passenger transport segment in Mexico. This measure adds to GEB’s efforts with the aim of achieving a lower impact on the environment, with a significant reduction in polluting gases, since Euro 6 technology significantly reduces CO2 emissions, as well as other pollutants.
The main element in these Euro 6 engines is the XPI ultra-high pressure fuel injection system, which allows pressures of up to 2,400 bars to be achieved in the combustion chambers, when they generally reach 1,800 bars. In addition, the injectors have eight nozzles and can have three injection pulses per cycle to optimize the air-fuel mixture.
The great modularity of the Scania power plants is still valid, and the DC13/165 engine has 12.7 liters and 6 cylinders in line. It delivers 500HP of power at 1,800rpm and if the horsepower appeals to you, the torque figure is more impressive, as the XPI engine produces 2,550Nm, constant between 925 and 1,400 revolutions per minute.
The implementation of this technology has environmental benefits linked to the reduction of emissions, since a bus will emit 18 tons of emissions less per year, if compared to a Euro 5 technology. In addition, thanks to the improvements in the powertrain, there will be a considerable benefit in fuel economy, compared to the previous generation of Scania Euro 5 PDE engines (pump-injector technology).
With the arrival of these vehicles, GEB will be able to impact the environment to a lesser extent, since the acquisition of these units meets the objectives of continuing to be a company with high social responsibility.
The driving position also features the new steering wheel with chrome details and completely redesigned instrument layout, seen at the end of 2019, which will make it easier for drivers to be aware of what is happening with the bus and provide them with an environment more up-to-date in their command posts.
For the safety of the occupants and other road users, the bus has the ADAS active safety package, with lane departure warning (LDW), automatic emergency braking (AEB), cruise control Intelligent Adaptive Control (AICC) and Electronic Stability Program (ESP).
“Since our foundation, we have characterized ourselves as a company busy seeking disruptive solutions for all our clients. For us, it is very important to seek efforts that go beyond offering transportation for people, we seek above all their comfort and this new chassis will meet those expectations, additionally we are betting on having the most current technologies on the market where one of the main aspects is environmental care”, indicated Luis Gerardo Mora, General Director of GEB.
These units are equipped with the most avant-garde technology of recent years. This reflects the high sense of responsibility of GEB and Scania towards the environment.
