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Cologne’s E-bus project, first conceptualized in 2012 by KVB (Kölnner Verkehrs-Betriebe) was put into action only in 2016 with 8 ‘articulated busses’ of 18-meters in length needing to be powered quickly, quietly and efficiently.
The 13 stops along the 7-km route would link Cologne train station with the city district of Zollstock and transport around 9,000 passengers a day.
RheinEnergie AG supplied green electricity for charging the busses and partnered with Heliox in powering the 18m busses for the route. At night, the busses were fully charged in the bus depot via pantographs installed on the bus roof. The pantographs allowed charging at one of the three charging stations at both final stops and intermediate stops on the route, in case of a requirement borne out of excessive traffic or inclement weather. Charging the batteries took between five to ten minutes, bringing no disruption to the bus schedule.
Given that line 133 often found itself in the midst of long traffic jams, an electric-solution with long-lasting capabilities led to a 520-tonne drop in CO2 emissions annually. NOx and fine particulate matter also witnessed drastic reductions on a year-on-year basis. The e-busses proved reliable during the one-year test period and has accelerated Cologne’s transition to e-public mobility.
Heliox and TU/e aim to develop an integrated solution that makes charging heavy electric vehicles accessible without negative consequences for local electricity networks. Together, we want to achieve this by developing and demonstrating a new, multiple and dynamic charging system for heavy electric vehicles that is equipped with software-controlled stabilization to absorb disturbances on the local energy grid.
The intended system will consist of a dynamically configurable charging system based on modules that can be connected in parallel, each with three 60 kW outputs. With this they want to be able to distribute the loading capacity dynamically over several vehicles. The charging system can therefore be used for opportunity charging up to 360 kW for a single vehicle as well as for regular charging of several vehicles.
In addition, smart software and a microcontroller board are being developed. The converter of the charging system can be used via this software to compensate for grid disturbances. The disturbances are neutralized via a low impedance path. This allows losses on the grid to be converted into usable energy, while improving the voltage quality of the grid. In fact, the system completely takes over the function of current power filters on the basis of smart control.
Cologne’s E-bus project, first conceptualized in 2012 by KVB (Kölnner Verkehrs-Betriebe) was put into action only in 2016 with 8 ‘articulated busses’ of 18-meters in length needing to be powered quickly, quietly and efficiently.
The 13 stops along the 7-km route would link Cologne train station with the city district of Zollstock and transport around 9,000 passengers a day.
RheinEnergie AG supplied green electricity for charging the busses and partnered with Heliox in powering the 18m busses for the route. At night, the busses were fully charged in the bus depot via pantographs installed on the bus roof. The pantographs allowed charging at one of the three charging stations at both final stops and intermediate stops on the route, in case of a requirement borne out of excessive traffic or inclement weather. Charging the batteries took between five to ten minutes, bringing no disruption to the bus schedule.
Given that line 133 often found itself in the midst of long traffic jams, an electric-solution with long-lasting capabilities led to a 520-tonne drop in CO2 emissions annually. NOx and fine particulate matter also witnessed drastic reductions on a year-on-year basis. The e-busses proved reliable during the one-year test period and has accelerated Cologne’s transition to e-public mobility.
