Implementation and operations of electric buses

INIT electromobility seminar presented strategies and successful implementations assisted by integrated solutions

 

Some of the speakers of INIT's seminar electromobility, from left to right: Ulrich Schmidt (Managing Director, initplan GmbH), Reinhard Renja (System Manager ITCS / Radio / Passenger Information, Rheinbahn AG), Dr. Christoph Zimmer (Managing Director, BPV Consult GmbH), Peter Brandl (Head of Transport Division, Salzburg AG), Armin Fettinger (Key Account Manager, INIT GmbH), Heiko Bauer (Managing Director, CarMedialab GmbH) and Tim Honschopp (Consultant Public Transportation & Logistics network planning, MAN Truck & Bus SE). 

Karlsruhe, 06 December 2019.

They are still rather elusive - only a small fraction of buses in German streets is currently run by electric power. There is an obvious trend towards electrification of bus fleets, due partly to the European Union's Clean Vehicles Directive. The fact that implementation and operations of electric vehicles can be an easy feat was shown at INIT's electromobility seminar in Karlsruhe, Germany, on 27 and 28 November.

One year after the successful first electromobility seminar, INIT, leader in integrated e-mobility solutions, again relied upon a mixture of basic information, technical know-how and examples of successful e-bus projects.  

Economical realisation of e-mobility projects

When operating electric buses specific factors have to be considered due to the buses' limited range. How these factors can be taken into account in order to get to economical operations concepts before the purchase of new vehicles was explained by Tim Honschopp,  Consultant Public Transportation & Logistics network planning at MAN Truck & Bus SE. To give sound and reliable advice to their customers, the MAN subsidiary uses INIT's eMOBILE-PLAN which is able to simulate different deployment scenarios and block variants in order to easily compare them. Deployment concept and block optimisation are two of "seven steps towards implementing e-buses" according to Key Account Manager Armin Fettinger (INIT).

The other five - charging concept, charging management, depot management, range monitoring and prediction, as well as continuous optimisation - were also presented by Fettinger. Thus, INIT customers received an invaluable guide to the implementation of electric vehicles.

Cost-effectiveness and financing of e-mobility projects were the focus of Dr. Christoph Zimmer, Managing Director of BPV Consult GmbH, - he suggested that (German) public transport companies present carefully thought-over concepts for regular e-bus operations, not for pilot projects. This will maximise their chances to receive comprehensive public funding.

Presentation of successful projects

A company which has already been driving electric buses for more than seventy years, is Salzburg AG (Austria). Their Leiter Bereich Verkehr (Head of Transport Division), Peter Brandl, spoke about the symbiosis of trolleybus and battery-driven bus, which provides several of new possibilities. The importance of an Intermodal Transport Control System adapted to the necessities of electromobility was underlined by Reinhard Renja, responsible for ITCS / radio / passenger information at Rheinbahn AG, Düsseldorf, Germany. He stated that using the eMOBILE-ITCS enhancement provides the proper basis for implementing e-buses.

Implementing electric vehicles is on the agenda of numerous public transport companies. That this is nothing they have to be afraid of , was consensus of the participants after the seminar. Not least because VDV, the Association of German Transport Companies, assists them. Martin Schmitz (photo below), Managing Director Engineering Sector at VDV, underlined in his lecture: "VDV is on the side of its members at all times when they face challenges of any kind, whether they involve vehicles, infrastructure or processes. At VDV and its committees we are currently working on cencepts for implementing eco-friendly mobility because its strengths are obvious." Electromobility is bound to play a major role in the transport transition. INIT is ready for it.

 

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Andrea Mohr-Braun

Head of Department Corporate Marketing

INIT SE

Germany