In 2007, Daimler Commercial Buses North America introduced the new Orion VII Next Generation (NG) bus, a replacement for its Orion VII low-floor transit bus. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, already operating a good number of previous-generation Orion VII buses, evaluated three Orion VII NG hybrid-electric buses in 2007 before purchasing more in 2008 and 2009.

The first Orion VII Next Generation hybrid-electric demonstrator was built in 2007 at Daimler's plant in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and numbered 1292A. 1292A first arrived in New York City in April 2007 for exhibition at the "Earth Day at Grand Central" event, for which it recieved a special adwrap. 1292A was displayed on Vanderbilt Avenue outside Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan, along with a number of other environmentally-friendly items, as part of Grand Central's annual Earth Day festival. 1292A was later returned to the Daimler plant in Mississauga.

1292A arrived in New York City again in June 2007 for evaluation by New York City Transit. It was then housed in Manhattanville Depot and spent its time undergoing testing along the M60 bus route. It did not go into service, as its sole purpose was to familiarize drivers and staff with the new bus. Unlike the rest of New York City Transit's bus fleet, 1292A was equipped with a front bike rack.

1292A was later repainted in MTA blue and white, renumbered 1292, and sent to the MTA's Baisley Park bus depot in Queens. There, it joined two other Orion VII NG buses from Mississauga: 1294 and 1295. These three buses operated on bus routes Q110, Q111, Q112 and Q113 during summer 2007. 1292, 1294 and 1295 were eventually returned to Orion later in 2007.

1295 (later renumbered 3800) was returned to New York City Transit in 2008, in new form as the pilot bus for the MTA's Orion VII NG hybrid bus order. Its first appearance was at the 2008 MTA Roadeo at Floyd Bennett Field in June 2006. 3800 later entered service in Manhattan, and was later transferred to Staten Island, where it continues to operate today.