Geneva is now home to unique TOSA electric buses,which can “fill up” in just 15 seconds using a ground-breaking quick-charging system made by ABB.
Anyone who owns an electric car knows that it requiresa different mobility mindset from vehicles with fuel tanks. You have to plan, think ahead, and schedule in times to charge up the batteries. If you drive an electric vehicle privately then planning is, to a certain extent, part of getting around and also what makes it appealing. But when it comes to public transport, timetables, a far-reaching infrastructure and the very rhythm of the city, all depend on trouble-free processes.That is why vehicles like the fully electric bus that runs on Line 23 in Geneva, connecting the suburbs and the expanding city to the airport, cannot be left standing with empty batteries, otherwise people would not get to their flights on time, arrive punctually at work, and enjoy free-flowing traffic. In Geneva, the TOSA buses (Trolleybus Optimisation Système Alimentation) made by ABB in conjunction with Swiss manufacturer, Hess, do not arrive late – at least not because their batteries haven’t been charged.
"Milestone for the future"
These buses are fitted with ABB’s ground-breaking quick-charging on-board technology, which enables their batteries to be charged in seconds using what is known as flash-chargers. This is how it works: the batteries that drive these articulated buses on Line 23 are installed on the roof. When the vehicle arrives at a stop equipped with a charging station some meters above the ground, its power supply line connects with the battery’s charging terminal in seconds. The bus’s battery is charged with 600 kW in just15 seconds – enough power to light up ten thousand 60 Watt light bulbs for the same time. ABB’s TOSA technology, meanwhile, allows the articulated bus to recharge fully at its terminus in just four to five minutes.
In your own electric car you can take a break, eat something, and have a drink while it charges up, whereas Line 23 will, from 2018 onwards, shuttle to and fro every ten minutes at peak traffic times carrying 10,000 passengers a day – up to 133 per vehicle – all of whom will be expecting to arrive on time at the stops of their choice. The benefits of this new kind of quick-charging infrastructure are obvious: there is no need for expensive overhead lines, which limit the flexibility of bus routes, and they enable fully electric buses to be used instead of the previous diesel-powered vehicles, saving up to 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Luc Barthassat, State Councilor for Transport and Environment in Geneva, sees it like this: “The deployment of TOSA on Line 23 is the result of joint efforts by public and private partners aiming to achieve a vision.This innovative project is a milestone for the future of urban mobility because it enables sustainable and eco-friendly transport and therefore contributes to the well-being of our community.” In Geneva ABB will equip twelve TOSA buses with the necessary technology and provide flash charging stations at 13 out of 50 stops, three charging stations at termini, and another four stations at depots.
Political vision and the possibilities offered by technology have combined in an eminently practical fashion on Geneva’s Line 23. This is based on ABB’s Next-Level Strategy in which energy-efficiency and sustainable mobility – subways, electric cars, electric buses – play a major part in the company’s philosophy. And the technology, developed by engineers in Switzerland, also provides an insight into the future. If it’s good for bus passengers in Geneva today and tomorrow, then it may soon be benefiting electric car owners everywhere.
