>>1047861I have to say I disagree. The good thing about trolleybuses is that they don't need large batteries, just enough for detours and whatnot. What you suggest, which is hybrid trolleybuses (these exist in some places) is the worst of both worlds: need to carry the weight and the cost of batteries, while also carrying weight and cost of trolley equipment, plus you need the high fixed costs of trolley wires (the most expensive part isn't a few km give or take, but the equipment to maintain it in the first place).
Trolleybuses are soon going to be obsolete because battery buses have become more affordable and their batteries last longer. By now, systems like the one you show in your pic will soon be commonplace, they're in the last experimental phase as of now, and their initial cost is lower, while running cost is about the same, and likely less especially for smaller systems.
Yes, yes, very well, HOWEVER trolleybuses consume less energy and are more eco-friendly: They carry less weight and don't need to ever move to recharge, and they don't have large batteries that need to be changed regularily.
I guess the end is nigh for trolleybuses. The only hope for this transport is that cities which already have a significant system in place, which will likely never be economical to abandon in favor of battery buses, will maintain a certain demand for new trolleybus units. Also since a trolleybus is for the most part the same as any electric bus it's not like it's much work to produce trolleybuses as well as battery electrics.
