E-mobility (re)loaded: taking complete charge of electric buses

Urbanisation and the increasing necessity to protect the climate and use resources with greater efficiency also call for new energy and mobility strategies in the field of local public transport. The Schaltbau subsidiary SBRS is paving the way to transform urban mobility with innovative charging infrastructure systems specially designed for electric buses.

More and more European cities and regional authorities are opting for all-electric buses, as they can leverage the many advantages that electric mobility offers them in their everyday regular services. Not only that, unlike a conventional combustion engine, an electric motor immediately provides its full torque, which is a great advantage, particularly for the continual stop-and-go operation of a bus on everyday public transport routes, as it saves a great deal of energy. Moreover, electric buses are emission-free, quiet and odourless. Cities and local authorities can significantly reduce their carbon footprint by switching from diesel-powered buses to electric vehicles. Berlin and Munich, for example, plan to switch either fully or to a large extent to electric buses for their urban services by 2030.

In the meantime, the relatively high procurement costs of electric buses compared to diesel vehicles have dropped significantly on the back of rapidly rising sales volumes and an increasingly competitive environment. The growing demand for electric buses is not least due to the technological advances of recent years, which means the vehicles now have a longer range of up to 300 km. Nevertheless, the range continues to be a challenge for many cities and local authorities, which require highly efficient and in some cases individually designed charging infrastructure systems.

Electric buses can be charged in a number of ways. Apart from charging them overnight at the local bus depot, they can also be quickly charged at the terminus of each bus route. A variety of charging strategies can be recommended, depending on the length of the route and its profile.

The customised solution specialist SBRS develops and installs individually tailored charging infrastructure systems for electric vehicles. Numerous electric bus manufacturers, such as Solaris and VDL Bus & Coach, rely on Schaltbau’s innovative strength and sound expertise in the fields of energy and mobility to meet the individually varying needs of cities and local municipalities and a number of e-bus projects have already been jointly implemented with great success. So far, SBRS has provided charging infrastructure systems for electric bus fleets in Brussels (Belgium) as well as in Münster and Osnabrück (Germany). Düsseldorf, Freiburg, Mönchengladbach, Schwäbisch Hall and Venice will follow in 2020. The project covers all the necessary work, including preparing the depot for the installation of the charging infrastructure as well as its manufacture, delivery, installation and commissioning. The visualisation system of the bus depot status and load management rounds off the depot equipment.

The demand for high-performance fast charging stations designed by the Schaltbau subsidiary SBRS is growing continuously. True to its slogan “SMART SOLUTIONS FOR POWER AND MOBILITY“, as a major technology partner, the Schaltbau Group ensures that smart e-mobility concepts can be implemented efficiently, quickly and in line with the specific needs of its customers.

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