Electric buses - Zero Emission

[ozbob]

The Weekly Review --> From Swinburne to Malaysia: Electric buses to hit the roads

[Stillwater]

Noosa in race for electric buses (and no need for your go-card).

http://noosa.starcommunity.com.au/stories/2014-03-26/electric-buses-talks-underway/

http://www.noosanews.com.au/news/new-bus-size-debate-set-to-be-electrifying/2294218/

[ozbob]

smartmeters --> ABB and Volvo Partner on Electric, Hybrid Bus Systems

[ozbob]

Green Car Congress -->

Four British-built Optare MetroCity single deck electric buses are currently being trialed on route H98 in London, which operates between Hayes and Hounslow. Optare is part of the Hinduja Group, a British bus manufacturer based in Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire; the buses are part funded from the Department of Transport's (DfT) Green Bus Fund ...

[ozbob]

ABB --> ABB's TOSA flash charging electric bus technology wins innovation prize

2014-10-10 -

ABB-developed boost charging technology and traction equipment for electric buses recognized at German EBUS Award 2014.
The technology incorporated on TOSA, the first 100% electric articulated bus, was recognized at the EBUS Award 2014 on October 10. TOSA, which has now been in operation in Geneva, Switzerland, for over a year, won the Power Train and Charging Technology categories for its innovative on-board traction system and flash in-route charging. The EBUS Award is selected by a jury of worldwide recognized experts and the German public transportation association under the patronage of Alexander Dobrindt, Germany's Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.

TOSA (Trolleybus Optimisation Système Alimentation), which carries up to 135 passengers, could represent a viable alternative to diesel-powered urban transportation in the future. The vehicle is charged directly at selected stops on its route with a 15-second, 400-kilowatt energy boost while the passengers enter and leave the vehicle, based on a new type of automatic flash-charging mechanism. The system uses a laser-controlled moving arm, which connects to an overhead receptacle for charging at bus shelters. The charging time is so quick that it does not interfere with the bus schedule and the lack of overhead lines improves the urban environment while providing greater route flexibility. At the end of the bus line a three to four-minute boost enables the full recharge of the batteries.

The flash-charging technology and the onboard traction equipment – which offers both high energy efficiency and easy integration for bus manufacturers – were developed by ABB and optimized for high-frequency bus routes in key urban areas. Thanks to an innovative electrical drive system, energy from the roof-mounted charging equipment can be stored in compact batteries, along with the vehicle's braking energy, powering both the bus and its auxiliary services, such as interior lighting. ABB worked together with Geneva's public transport company (TGP), the Office for the Promotion of Industries and Technologies (OPI) and the Geneva power utility SIG on this project.

Encouragement for the future

TOSA began pilot operations in May 2013 and by March of this year had clocked up over 8,000 kilometers of travel. During this phase, it was ascertained that TOSA could save 1,000 tons of CO2 over a local line covering approximately 600,000 kilometers per year, with zero emissions. It also offers electric energy consumption costs which are 30% lower than those for diesel consumption. The prize-win represents, therefore, not only a milestone of progress so far but also an encouragement for the future wider-scale application of this technology.

TOSA is not the only electric vehicle charging project that ABB is involved in. In September, ABB and China's BYD announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate the introduction of new solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging, among other aims. This year, the group also introduced its EV fast chargers in China, supplying DC fast chargers for the new Denza electric car developed by BYD's joint venture with Daimler. ABB is a world leader in power electronics and energy storage systems for utilities, industry and transport and infrastructure.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Parsons Brinckerhoff ‏@ExpoLive4Trans

All-electric 60-foot bus runs for 170 miles on a single charge from @BYDCompany #APTAEXPO

[ozbob]

Queensland Times --> Japan's revolutionary electric buses on their way

Japan's revolutionary electric buses on their way
Joel Gould | 28th Oct 2014 5:00 AM

IPSWICH is on the cusp of introducing revolutionary electric buses to the city after a productive visit by Mayor Paul Pisasale to Japan.

Global giant Toshiba has spent millions of dollars in research and development on electric buses and Cr Pisasale rode a prototype bus in Tokyo.

The battery-operated bus has a charge unit and the progressive charge levels of the bus are monitored from a central computer to ensure it never runs too low.

Cr Pisasale said Toshiba "wants to take its innovative and sustainable Japanese technology to the world".

In partnership with the Japanese Government and leading house and community developer Sekisui House, the aim is to introduce the buses initially to Sekisui's Ripley Valley development.

Cr Pisasale met with officials from Toshiba, Japan's Ministry of the Environment and Government, Austrade and Sekisui House CEO Isami Wada to discuss the innovative plan to make Ipswich a pilot site for Australia.

He said an official from Toshiba would visit Ipswich in December to hold more talks about bringing the plan to fruition.

"Toshiba and the Japanese Government have invested millions in developing the electric bus," Cr Pisasale said.

"Ipswich is also fortunate to be linked with Sekisui House, whose whole philosophy is based on sustainability. They are keen to make sure their public transport is second to none in Ripley Valley.

"One of the conditions of the development application was they have to provide public transport.

"The State Government won't fund it until the volumes are up so Sekisui House is looking to subsidise it from the first house.

"They want Ipswich to be the first city in Australia to operate on electric buses."

Cr Pisasale envisaged the first buses would link Ripley Valley with rail transport hubs in Springfield and the Ipswich CBD.

"The range of the bus at the moment is 52 kilometres and it takes five minutes to charge," he said.

"The batteries they use in the bus are re-useable and when they get to a certain stage in their life they place them in another unit that can power buildings, which we can do in Australia.

During his visit Cr Pisasale inspected the light rail system operating in Kyoto.

He said he had plans to see the driverless system utilised in Ipswich to "connect all our growth centres together and link people to the transport hubs".

Cr Pisasale envisaged light rail servicing Springfield, Ripley, the CBD, USQ, Brassall and industry hubs at Bundamba, Redbank and Carole Park.

[ozbob]

EMIRATES 24 News -->200km @ 100kmph, full charge: Dubai's e-bus


The battery can be recharged up to 80 per cent in less than 30 minutes and the bus can cover up to 200km with a full battery at a speed of 100km per hour. (Supplied)

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that it will shortly embark on the trial run of electric buses (powered only by electricity supplied by rechargeable batteries).

The battery can be recharged up to 80 per cent in less than 30 minutes and the bus can cover up to 200km with a full battery at a speed of 100km per hour.

The RTA will coordinate with the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) about future steps as regarads providing the infrastructure of electric vehicles.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the RTA, said: "This step is aimed at fostering a green economy in the UAE in view of the importance of power for humans and various ingredients of development projects. "

The RTA will embark on the pilot operation of electric buses to assess the associated environmental benefits, measure the rate of reduced carbon emissions, identify the distance covered by the bus following each battery recharge process in addition to other parameters such as the bus speed, prescribed battery life span, ability to cope with the climatic conditions of the UAE particularly during summer, engine efficiency, and maintenance costs among others.

In the light of these assessments, the RTA will decide on the next step to be taken.

Hybrid Vehicles

In June 2008, the RTA initiated the pilot operation of 10 hybrid environment-friendly vehicles of Chevrolet (Tahoe and Malibu brands) powered by fuel and electricity.

During the pilot period, the RTA measured the ability of hybrid vehicles' batteries to withstand the excessive heat of the region, lifetime of batteries and the percentage of fuel saving made.

The RTA also tentatively used a number of hybrid vehicles of Toyota brand and results of this pilot operation showed that test vehicles covered more than 550 thousand kilometres without experiencing failures or major maintenance issues in major components.

Fuel efficiency improvement amounted to 33 per cent, and carbon dioxide emissions dropped by 33 per cent as well.

For instance the normal vehicle needs about 12½ litres of petrol to cover 100km, while the hybrid vehicle needs around 8¼ litres to travel over the same distance. CO2 emissions of the normal vehicle are estimated as 182kg per day, whereas CO2 emissions generated by the hybrid vehicle measure about 121kg per day.

CNG-Powered Abras

In May 2007, the RTA, in cooperation with Emirates Gas Company, launched the pilot operation of three abras powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of diesel as part of the keen attention of the RTA to improve and upgrade marine transport service using traditional abras for shuttling between the two banks of the Dubai Creek.

[ozbob]

Travel & Leisure --> Sydney Airport trials electric buses

[ozbob]

Twitter

Scott Emerson ‏@scottemerson 18 minutes ago

Great to join @MichaelHartMP on tour of Bustech's 'top secret' Gold Coast electric bus research lab exporting to Asia



===============

^

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow now

@scottemerson @MichaelHartMP 'Top secret' ? well not anymore ... lol ... what happened? > http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6945.msg72847#msg72847 ... #qldpol

[ozbob]

Co.Exist --> Are Electric Buses The Future Of Mass Transit?

[ozbob]

Twitter

Taras Grescoe ‏@grescoe

LA's bus rapid transit line tests world's largest electric bus: 60' long. (Chinese, of course) http://bit.ly/1uSPhTU 

[ozbob]

Go Auto --> Swinburne helps develop electric bus

[#Metro]

[ozbob]

Green Care Reports --> 80-Foot Long Electric Bus Concept From Poland: Uses Fuel Cells Too

[ozbob]

National Geographic --> Tesla for the Masses: Electric, Fuel Cell Buses Take Off



Foothill Transit's Ecoliner pulls into its electric charging station at the transit center in Pomona, California.

Photograph by Linda Apodaca, Foothill Transit

[ozbob]

eurotransport --> Berlin to introduce e-bus line with wireless PRIMOVE charging and battery system

Berlin will be the first capital city to introduce an inner city e-bus line using Bombardier's wireless PRIMOVE charging and battery system.

The line will become completely eco-friendly and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 260 tons per year.

Starting in summer 2015, passengers on the city centre bus line 204 will be able to enjoy a quiet and zero-emission ride through Berlin. The programme is supported by The German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and is part of the International Showcase Programme for E-mobility Berlin Brandenburg.

The Bombardier charging pad will be embedded underground will weigh seven tons, is five meters long, two meters wide and 25 centimetres thick. Bombardier's wireless PRIMOVE system charges the Berlin buses' batteries at 200 kW in the very few minutes of dwell time spent at the end stations. This allows the e-buses to serve the 6.1 km long bus line back and forth – without additional stops or battery changing for an entire day. As soon as the e-bus is positioned over the underground charging pad, the pick-up coil mounted on the underside of the vehicle lowers. The inductive energy transfer begins, generating an electromagnetic field. This poses no danger to drivers, passengers or pedestrians – or even to people with pacemakers. With the optimization of the transfer frequencies and advanced shielding, the charging system falls well below the very strict European limit values for electromagnetic emissions.

The e-buses will be built this year by Solaris and additional charging stations will be installed at the route's second end stop and depot. The twelve meter long vehicle is practically identical to the Urbino 12 electric bus equipped with PRIMOVE charging and batteries, which has been in passenger operation in Braunschweig, Germany, since March 2014. The Berlin operation will begin on route 204 in summer 2015.

[ozbob]

StarTribune (Minnesota) --> Metro Transit to test drive electric buses

Metro Transit is exploring the idea of adding buses powered solely by electricity to its fleet, and next week agency staff, elected officials and the public will have an opportunity to take a test ride. ...

[ozbob]

Dutch News --> Amsterdam to replace diesel buses with electric vehicles

Amsterdam will become the first city in the country to run a fully electric bus fleet, following agreement between the city council and city bus firm GVB. The first batch of 40 buses will be replaced by electric vehicles in two years' time, the Volkskrant reports, and by 2025 the entire fleet will be electric. The ferries over the IJ between the city centre and Noord will also be powered by green electricity. 'This project means we are saying goodbye to symbolic behaviour and pilot projects,' the city's transport alderman Abdeluheb Choho told the Volkskrant. 'We have decided to just do it, not to experiment with five buses.' Amsterdam is not the first city to focus on electricity-powered public transport. Brabant has introduced some battery-driven buses and small-scale experiments are under way in Utrecht and Maastricht ...

Read more at DutchNews.nl: Amsterdam to replace diesel buses with electric vehicles http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/04/amsterdam-to-replace-diesel-buses-with-electric-vehicles/

[ozbob]

BYD Battery Electric Buses in London

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

Coconuts Bangkok --> Ride the electric bus free all month

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Noosa introduces pollution-beating electric buses

[pandmaster]

Brisbanetimes --> Noosa introduces pollution-beating electric buses

Hallelujah! A pollution free bus. The planet is saved! Good job all, take the rest of the week off. 

The electricity powering the bus polluted. The manufacture of the bus polluted a lot (especially the battery). Pollution-wise the best thing would almost certainly to have kept the old buses going rather than polluting more to produce new buses.

[#Metro]

A simple way to reduce carbon pollution in the near term is to use whatever bus is being used and pay carbon offsets to cancel out any CO2 used. This is the way Brisbane City Council does it.

It is useful in an environment where no carbon pricing exists (yet).

[bcasey]

Yes, the electricity that currently would be powering the bus would be produced from fossil fuels, but it does allow for the possibility of renewable energy to be used instead, whereas a diesel or gas powered bus doesn't have that option at all.

There is also the benefit that the pollution is not being produced within highly populated areas, but instead is concentrated at the power plant. This also allows for more efficient power generation, with the possibility of using processes like carbon capture, which you can't really do within a single ICE.

In terms of the pollution produced from the manufacture of the bus, I'm not sure how that compares to the pollution from producing an ICE bus. Do you have any sources on that?

One step at a time.

[red dragin]

Zero emissions - not really.

Would be interesting to analyse the end to end production of diesel v electricity as a fuel source. I think electricity would come out on top as "greener".

Despite those "noisey" wind turbine our PM whinges about 

[ozbob]

The Guardian --> Meet the conductor: London set to trial first all-electric doubledecker bus

[ozbob]

Fortune --> This startup is gearing up to be the Tesla of electric buses

[Stillwater]

Go Noosa

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/noosa-introduces-pollutionbeating-electric-buses-20150615-ghom2h.html

http://www.noosa.qld.gov.au/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/40217326/40563268?p_p_auth=d5VsbQjw&_56_showArticlTitleInPortlet=true

[SurfRail]

Bustech's new electric bus (the "ZDi") is being exhibited at the Busvic Melbourne Maintenance Conference this week.  It looks stunning, and based on the battery layout and other features they appear to have finally wiped out the step at the side door from the bodywork.

Remains to be seen if this can be adapted for their diesel offerings.

[ozbob]

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/business/burleigh-company-bustech-driving-future-with-electric-buses-set-to-revolutionise-gold-coast-roads/story-fnjc2dm2-1227434702795

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AUSTRALIA'S first designed, engineered and manufactured electric bus will soon be driving Gold Coast streets.

Built by Burleigh-based bus manufacturer Bustech, part of Transit Australia Group, the futuristic vehicle is set to revolutionise the Australian transport industry.

The zero carbon emission bus, unveiled yesterday, is controlled by touch screens and uses advanced battery technology and regenerative braking systems to maximise its range.

Its design allows batteries to be retrofitted as advances in technology occur.

TAG chief executive Michael McGee said the first electric bus would be driving Gold Coast streets within months.
The futuristic interior of Australia's first designed, engineered and manufactured fully

The futuristic interior of Australia's first designed, engineered and manufactured fully electric bus built by Bustech. Source: Supplied

"We will be trialling the first concept bus on the Gold Coast before heading into mass production," Mr McGee said.

He said the cost to manufacture Bustech's electric bus is comparable to a traditional diesel bus but maintenance costs are 80 per cent cheaper across its lifetime.

"The electric bus has five major moving parts compared with around 1000 with a traditional combustion engine so requires far less maintenance," Mr McGee said.

"One of the biggest cost components with an electric bus is the battery.

"As with solar, the price of batteries is dropping dramatically as advances rapidly occur so we will see even further savings in manufacturing costs."

The 11.8m bus which carries more than 50 passengers can be charged at the depot and while in service.

Each seat features a USB charger for powering mobile devices while travelling.

Mr McGee is hopeful state and local governments will invest in infrastructure including charging stations that will see electric buses rolled out on Australian roads.

"Governments across the globe have already invested in electric vehicle charging infrastructure to

support private and public transport," he said.

"Our electric bus places Bustech at the forefront of a fast-growing and emerging industry.

Australia has an opportunity to be a world leader and cut environmental pollution at the same

time."
Australia's first designed, engineered and manufactured fully electric bus has been built

Australia's first designed, engineered and manufactured fully electric bus has been built on the Gold Coast by Bustech, part of Transit Australia Group. Source: Supplied

Bustech's electric bus project has been supported by the Federal Government through the

Automotive Cooperative Research Centre — AutoCRC and the CSIRO, the Malaysian Government and Swinburne University of Technology.

The release of the first concept bus comes after Bustech late last year signed a $170 million contract to manufacture electric buses for the Malaysian Government.

TAG also is driving its way into multibillion-dollar deals in the Middle East.

It is leading an international consortium which has been short-listed for a project to operate and maintain government-owned buses in Dubai and with partners is bidding to design, build, operate and maintain an entire Bus Rapid Transit public transportation system in Saudi Arabia.

The company, launched by brothers Tony and Joe Calabro in 1989 after they purchased Surfside Buslines, is the largest privately-owned public transport operator in Queensland, with a fleet of 700 buses.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Transport for London ‏@TfL 31m

Two Irizar electric buses join growing green bus fleet - http://ow.ly/PDtFv 

[ozbob]

Twitter

Transport for London ‏@TfL 36m

Two bus routes to convert to fully electric operation next year - http://ow.ly/PDuei

[ozbob]

Twitter

St. Louis Metro ‏@STLMetro  54m

Have you seen it yet? Metro test drives electric bus in Forest Park http://www.nextstopstl.org/15767/ 

[ozbob]

inhabitat -->The world's fastest charging electric bus powers up in 10 seconds flat

[ozbob]

The world's Longest range Electric Bus being tested at Sydney International Airport

https://solarthermalmagazine.com/2014/11/25/sydney-international-airport-tests-worlds-longest-range-electric-bus/

Interesting ..

[SurfRail]

The local Bustech one is claimed to be good for somewhere between 200-300km I think.

[ozbob]

Swinburne --> Swinburne unveils Australian-first electric bus

[ozbob]

Habitat --> The world's fastest charging electric bus powers up in 10 seconds flat


http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/08/China-fast-charging-electric-bus1-537x374.jpg