Electric bus platform for urban mobility

Today, the technology of automatic battery charging based on Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) for the electric mass transit industry involving electric trains, buses and trams, is being used more and more. The modern solution described in this paper proposes an innovative technology for mixed charging of electric buses, either by wireless charging for 2-3 minutes in selected stations, or by plug-in charging at the end of the bus line, which results in only minimal energy storage on board - practically enough to get to the next charging station. The reduction of the weight of the battery packs determines the increase of the number of passengers transported, but also a reduction of the purchase price of the bus, without reducing the performances. The conversion can cost about half the price of new electric buses, depending on the condition of the vehicle and the extent of the work. This solution can be applied especially for the conversion of Diesel buses into electric buses which is not only sustainable, but also significantly better in terms of investment and operational costs, comparing with the purchase of new electric buses.

The Other Side of the (Policy) Coin: Analyzing Exnovation Policies for the Urban Mobility Transition in Eight Cities around the Globe

Many cities all over the world highlight the need to transform their urban mobility systems into more sustainable ones, to confront pressing issues such as air and noise pollution, and to deliver on climate change mitigation action. While the support of innovations is high on the agenda of both national and local authorities, consciously phasing-out unsustainable technologies and practices is often neglected. However, this other side of the policy coin, ‘exnovation’, is a crucial element for the mobility transition. We developed a framework to facilitate a more comprehensive assessment of urban mobility transition policies, systematically integrating exnovation policies. It links exnovation functions as identified in transition studies with insights from urban mobility studies and empirical findings from eight city case studies around the world. The findings suggest that most cities use some kinds of exnovation policies to address selective urban mobility issues, e.g., phasing-out diesel buses, restricting the use of polluting motor vehicles in some parts of the city, etc. Still, we found no evidence for a systematic exnovation approach alongside the innovation policies. Our framework specifies exnovation functions for the urban mobility transition by lining out policy levers and concrete measure examples. We hope that the framework inspires future in-depth research, but also political action to advance the urban mobility transition.

Assessment of the Emission of Pollutants from Public Transport Based on the Example of Diesel Buses and Trolleybuses in Gdynia and Sopot

The present study attempts to examine the research gap in terms of comparing the environmental impact of trolleybuses and diesel buses in the conditions of a country with an unfavourable energy mix. The analysed example concerns the trolleybus transport system in Gdynia, in northern Poland, which also partially serves the neighbouring city of Sopot. In the last few years, two bus lines have been electrified with trolleybuses in the In-Motion-Charging technology, which enables operation on sections without an overhead network. Using the actual operational data, a comparative analysis of the emissivity of diesel buses and trolleybuses used on the same lines in an identical operating regime was conducted. Moreover, an attempt was made to estimate the damage costs of the emission of air pollutants for the above-mentioned means of transport. Research has shown that trolleybuses significantly help to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and particulate matter, while increasing sulphur dioxide emissions on the served lines. They also generate lower specific emissions of carbon dioxide compared to diesel buses. However, taking into account the differences in the number of seats in these vehicles, the length of routes resulting from a need to provide access to the necessary infrastructure and the total amount of kilometres covered on a given route, they may cause higher emissions per year and per the product life cycle than diesel buses. This is related to the unfavourable structure of energy production in Poland, which is dominated by coal sources. The research results clearly show that the use of trolleybuses in public transport contributes to a reduction of the damage costs of the emission of pollutants that amount to approximately EUR (€) 30,000–60,000 per year for the analysed lines.

A spatially explicit optimization model for the selection of sustainable transport technologies at regional bus companies

Buses account for almost 60% of the total public transport services in Europe, and most of the vehicles are diesel fuelled. Regional transport administrators, under pressure by governments to introduce zero-emission buses, require analytical tools for identifying optimal solutions. In literature, few models combine location analysis, least cost planning, and emission assessment, taking into account multiple technologies which might achieve emission reduction goals. In this paper, an existing optimal location model for electric urban transport is adapted to match the needs of regional transport. The model, which aims to evaluate well-to-wheel carbon emissions as well as airborne emissions of NOx and PM10, is applied to a real case study of a regional bus transport service in North Eastern Italy. The optimization has identified electric buses with relatively small (60 kWh) batteries as the best compromise for reducing carbon equivalent emissions; however, under current economic conditions in Italy, the life cycle cost of such vehicles is still much higher than those of Euro VI diesel buses. In this context, our model helps in identifying ways to minimize infrastructure costs and to efficiently allocate expensive resources such as electric buses to the routes where the maximum environmental benefit can be achieved.

Adjustment of bus departure time of an electric bus transportation system for reducing costs and carbon emissions: A case study in Penghu

As a response to the worldwide problems of global warming and environmental pollution, electric vehicles have become the main direction of development in the automobile industry. Taking the bus system of Penghu Islands as the subject, this study explores the switching of all the original diesel buses to electric buses, and it adjusts the departure time of all the buses, with the purpose of reducing the costs of the construction and electricity used in an electric bus system. Plug-in and battery-swapping buses are used as examples in the study, and the Genetic Algorithm (GA), the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Simulate Anneal Arithmetic (SA) algorithms, as well as an algorithm that combines the above, is used to optimize the departure times, in order not to affect the volumes and passenger demands in units of five minutes, the shift starts within the range of 15 minutes before or after the scheduled time. After each new schedule is prepared, batteries are used to optimize the daytime charging schedule of electric buses, to ensure the lowest cost of each new schedule. The results show that, regardless of which algorithm is used to optimize the departure time, all the minimum costs are lower than the best results before the adjustment, especially for the PSO-GA algorithm. Hence, the proper adjustment of the departure time can really reduce the construction and electricity costs and carbon emissions of the electric bus system.

Techno-Economic Analysis and Environmental Impact of Electric Buses

Electric vehicles are a leading candidate in the clean energy market. This paper aims to analyse the feasibility of the deployment of electric buses (EB) based on the existing bus routes in Brunei, by the use of life cycle cost analysis and the analysis of the parameters that influence the overall life cycle cost. The findings from the study revealed that EB are significantly more expensive than diesel buses (DB), with their acquisition and maintenance costs contributing substantially to their overall life cycle cost. In order to promote EB deployment, the government needs to look simultaneously into providing subsidies for EB and imposing taxes on DB, the provision of charging infrastructure, and ensuring maintenance capability, as well as increasing the current subsidised diesel price. It was also shown that increasing the cost of diesel to the average US diesel price of USD$3.101/L, an initial subsidy of USD$67,586 towards the purchase of EB, and a tax of USD$67,586 for the purchase of DB would allow EB to compete in the market, with the amount of tax and subsidy being gradually reducible over time, as EB and battery technology becomes more mature. From an environmental perspective, the emissions from EB come out higher than the emissions from DB. The efficiency of electric power generation needs to be enhanced, and renewable energy sources and the adoption of carbon capture technology need to be explored in order to exploit the full benefit of EB and ensure more environmentally sustainable bus operation.