[5] The engine compartment of the Orion VI completely occupies the rear corner on the driver's side of the bus.

[1] A prototype series hybrid bus was developed by the New York State Consortium using an Orion V 40' chassis equipped with powertrain components supplied by General Electric.

[8] In 1998, the Orion VI became the first North American transit bus to be offered with a hybrid powertrain as a regular production option.

The New York City (NYC) Metropolitan Transportation Authority was the lead customer, with an order of 125 Orion VI Hybrid buses planned for delivery in 2002.

[9]: i  The series hybrid powertrain, developed from the Orion V prototype by Lockheed Martin and marketed as HybriDrive™, differed in adopting a single rear axle driven by one traction motor, storing energy in lead-acid batteries, and using a Detroit Diesel Series 30 (a co-branded Navistar T444E) V-8 diesel engine turning a generator.

[10] Major transit agency users included New York City (MTA), Ottawa (OC Transpo) and Toronto (TTC).

The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also received separate complaints of tires catching fire in Arlington Heights, Illinois (2004) and Birmingham, Alabama (2005).