Skip to main content

Berlin introduces wirelessly-charged electric bus Line

Berlin has become the first capital city to introduce a wirelessly charged electric bus, as part of a project funded by Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. The Berlin Transport Authority, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) has introduced four Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses equipped with the Bombardier Primove inductive charging system and traction equipment from Vossloh Kiepe. The buses now operate on the 6.1 kilometre line 204 between Südkreuz and Zoologischer Garten (Hertzallee). Vos
September 4, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

Berlin has become the first capital city to introduce a wirelessly charged electric bus, as part of a project funded by Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.
The Berlin Transport Authority, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (7580 BVG) has introduced four Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses equipped with the Bombardier Primove inductive charging system and traction equipment from Vossloh Kiepe.

The buses now operate on the 6.1 kilometre line 204 between Südkreuz and Zoologischer Garten (Hertzallee). Vossloh Kiepe’s electric drive ensures the vehicles are not only emission-free, but also produce low vibration and noise, benefitting both passengers and the environment.

Each bus will be charged wirelessly and contactlessly via 513 Bombardier’s inductive Primove technology which enables the buses to recharge in just a few minutes.

Bombardier claims that the Primove battery system, with a total capacity of 90 kilowatt hours, offers sufficient energy reserves to handle even Berlin’s most demanding routes. In addition, the wireless charging system is well shielded so that the electromagnetic radiation is lower than that of a conventional induction cooker. To fully charge the batteries overnight and air condition the passenger compartment before starting operation, four stationary and one mobile charging station were also installed by Vossloh Kiepe at the BVG depot. There the buses are supplied with power via charging cables.

Like all BVG’s electric powered vehicles, the new Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses are powered exclusively with green electricity. BVG says that within one year, the four electric buses on the line 204 will travel a total of approximately 200,000 kilometres, saving 260 tons of CO2 emissions.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Phase two for Swedish electric road
    March 29, 2021
    The project, commissioned by Trafikverket, has been running a Solaris electric bus
  • Indra to implement ticketing technology for new Algerian trolley line
    September 7, 2015
    Alstom Transport has awarded Indra a US$3 million contract to develop and implement the ticketing systems for the first trolley line currently under construction in the Algerian city of Setif. With a total length of 22.2 kilometres, the Setif trolley line project is being undertaken by Entreprise du Métro d’Alger (EMA), which has subcontracted the construction to Alstom Transport and the construction company Yapi Merkezi. Indra will supply ticketing systems for the 27 stations and four interchanges p
  • Hyperloop One completes inaugural test run
    August 7, 2017
    Hyperloop One successfully completed its second phase of testing, achieving 192 mph and travelling almost the full distance of the 500-metre DevLoop track in the Nevada desert, in a tube depressurised down to the equivalent of air at 200,000 feet above sea level. The Hyperloop One XP-1, the company’s first-generation pod, accelerated for 300 metres and glided above the track using magnetic levitation before braking and coming to a gradual stop.
  • Breakthrough battery could revolutionise cost, range and safety of electric vehicles
    March 23, 2012
    Envia Systems, based in California, has announced test results that verify the company’s next-generation rechargeable battery has achieved the highest recorded energy density of 400 Watt-hours/kilogram (Wh/kg) for a rechargeable lithium-ion cell. When commercialised, this 400 Wh/kg battery is expected to slash the price of a 500km range electric vehicle by cutting the cost of the battery pack by more than 50 per cent. The testing of Envia’s next-generation lithium-ion battery was performed by the Electroche