Across Europe measures are being taken to promote a carbon-neutral environment. And as a world leader in electric vehicle infrastructure, ABB is supporting numerous e-mobility bus projects to help drive a global transition to sustainable public transport
Buses are just another type of electric vehicle, but with battery packs ten times the size of a typical passenger car (or more), and as part of a larger transit system, they have unique requirements.
Showcased here are a few landmark European initiatives supported by ABB that are making significant contributions to the rapid growth of the electric bus market and together will save the emission of many thousands of tonnes of noxious gases every year.
“Individually these e-bus projects are making significant contributions towards emission reduction and sustainable public transport in their respective cities and regions. And when we take a global view it’s clear to see how the shift towards sustainable public transportation systems is gathering momentum and making a very significant contribution to atmospheric carbon reduction,” says Frank Muehlon, Head of ABB’s global business for E-mobility Infrastructure Solutions.
Above the Arctic Circle
Beginning in the summer of 2021, 31 new electric buses from Volvo will operate in the Arctic city of Bodø, Norway, powered by charging solutions from ABB. These will be the northernmost electric buses in the world and the first to be put into operation north of the Arctic Circle. They will serve as a proof point that electrification of road transport in cool, Arctic areas is a viable solution.
As part of its climate goals, Norway has decided that all of the country’s city buses must be emission-free by 2025, to support the country’s target of a 50 to 55 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
City bus lines in Bodø will only be served by battery-electrics buses by 2030. The emission savings are estimated to correspond to 1,200 diesel cars, or a reduction of almost one million liters of diesel annually. In addition, the electric buses will have a major impact on the urban environment such as reduced noise level.
The electric buses will be charged with ABB 450 kW pantographs, a modular solution for high-power charging of heavy vehicles.
Opportunity Charge or also known as OppCharge, is an open interface for the automated charging of single and double deck electric buses, using a pantograph to connect the bus to the charger. A pantograph lowers from the charging station, connects to the battery via rails on the roof of the bus and charges it with up to 600kW
With typical charge times of three to six minutes the pantograph system can easily be integrated in existing operations, ensuring zero-emission public transit during the day without impacting the normal operation of the route.
Hamburger Hochbahn
A bustling port city in northern Germany, Hamburg has set ambitious sustainability goals to cut CO2 emissions by half from 1990 to 2030, in large part through the development of e-mobility initiatives. The local transit authority has chosen ABB to supply the charging infrastructure for what will be Germany’s first fully electric bus depot.
In terms of local public transport, Hamburger HOCHBAHN AG is contributing to the Hamburg climate plan with a wide-reaching fleet electrification program that includes Germany’s first fully electrified bus terminal for a system carrying 200 million riders a year. The company is committed to having its entire fleet of 1,000 bus electric by 2030 to provide the benefits of cleaner air and lower noise that are the goals of urban transportation planners everywhere.
ABB supplied a turnkey solution including the installation of 44 ABB Heavy Vehicle Charger (HVC) 150C charging stations, alongside the planning and implementation of the electric infrastructure and the connection of the depot to the grid. This solution allows 44 buses in the fleet, each with a range of up to 150 km in normal conditions, to be simultaneously charged in the central bus depot. For added convenience and space saving, the high-power chargers are installed on the roof of the bus depot provid-ing an intelligent and cost-effective approach to overnight charging for the city’s large and growing e-bus fleet.
Switzerland’s capital
A pioneering electric bus project in Switzerland’s capital, Bern, underlines the country’s position as a leader in e-mobility and sustainable transportation. The buses on line 17 of BERNMOBIL’s network also use the OppCharge system to run solely with electric power, in the process saving 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
Thanks to ABB’s charging stations and drive technology, BERNMOBIL’s five e-buses, which entered service in December 2018, are running from Bern’s main train station without overhead power lines, need-ing only a single charge at their final stop. Each charge takes around five minutes, during which a pan-tograph descends from the charging station, connects to rails on the bus roof and charges the battery with 450 kW. In addition, the vehicles receive a 50kW overnight charge in their depot. Even without fast charging, the buses’ battery capacity is sufficient to allow them to cover their route three times – a range of approximately 35-40km.
It is anticipated that the pilot scheme will be extended and further OppCharge lines added to BERNMOBIL’s network.
A further benefit of the Bern OppCharge buses is that they run on hydro-electricity, giving the city’s 150,000 residents the chance to use fully sustainable urban transport every day.
