The ebussed project provides technical assistance for the transition from public transport with internal combustion engines to public transport with electric bus fleets. The project covers a number of areas related to the launch and support of the development of e-bus. Ebussed will focus on the exchange of experience between partner regions at different stages of the development of e-bus operations, thus serving regions struggling with this highly technical and fast developing field. As no partner region has yet fully developed its e-bus migration roadmap, new ideas, solutions and technologies can continue to be introduced into their development plans. Ebussed will support the transition of european regions towards low-carbon mobility and more efficient public transport. It promotes the uptake of e-buses and supports the expansion of existing e-fleets.
Details of the actions envisaged:
Action 1 : Reducing the environmental impact of urban and suburban bus transport
Throughout the project we have been able to identify, process and adapt successful collaborations to reduce the environmental impact of urban and suburban bus transport, in particular to share knowledge and improve knowledge between the relevant disciplines. The first of these is the e-bus training for all staff by city traffic turku ltd (turku, finland), which provides continuous training in operation, maintenance and management for all operating staff based on a common training theme. For the present action, the main priorities are to maximise utilisation rates, increase passenger comfort and reduce energy consumption. The implementation of the action is also supported by the change management and information strategy for drivers and technicians solution, implemented by vhh (hamburg). The good practice places a strong emphasis on supporting drivers and technicians to become increasingly digitalised and to learn new technologies. The preparation for the rapidly changing technological environment in hungary and the training solution (video content) used clearly support the local application of the good practice. The third integrated good practice optimising the driving skills of bus drivers (qdrive monitoring system, qbuzz, the netherlands) is an online system that provides bus drivers with processed information on driving data, energy efficiency, helping to optimise driving and traffic management. For the present action, the elements aimed at making transport management more efficient are of particular relevance.
Action 2: Electric charging network
Three of the related good practices identified in the project will be adapted under this action. The first is the on-call service for charging problems in turku (turku energy ltd. Finland). The central element of the good practice is the operation of an on-call service to deal with charging problems of e-buses. The aim is to shorten the repair time (minimise downtime). In the present action, this solution will be integrated in the deployment of the charging network. The preconditioning of e-buses, a good practice of others, is a working solution for the hamburg vhh. Pre-conditioning of e-buses uses mains energy to heat or cool the interior and the battery pack while still connected to the charging point at the depot. This is the solution we intend to apply in the design of the on-site charging points in this action, to increase autonomous capacity. Finally, the solution of tribus innovative mobility from the netherlands to optimise the load on the network infrastructure can be transferred to the local development environment. The objective is to evaluate whether peak reduction, v1g and v2g/v2b smart charging can be an appropriate solution for balancing the network, reducing costs and emissions. The results of good practice can be used to develop model solutions for action.
The eBussed project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and Hungary.