Skip to main content

Open interface for electric bus charging

While the European public transport community is preparing for electric buses and standardisation activities have already begun, with European standards expected to come into place 2019, followed by international standards in 2020, many cities are already implementing electric bus systems. In order to meet their needs, European bus manufacturers Irizar, Solaris, VDL and Volvo have agreed with charging system suppliers ABB, Heliox and Siemens to an open, transparent and voluntary approach. Common preferre
March 15, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
While the European public transport community is preparing for electric buses and standardisation activities have already begun, with European standards expected to come into place 2019, followed by international standards in 2020, many cities are already implementing electric bus systems.

In order to meet their needs, European bus manufacturers Irizar, Solaris, VDL and 609 Volvo have agreed with charging system suppliers 4540 ABB, Heliox and 189 Siemens to an open, transparent and voluntary approach. Common preferred interfaces will be opened up for all market participants and will be used for electric buses with opportunity charging (fast charging at end stops) and for overnight charging.

The group is committed to contribute to European standardization activities and to share experiences with standardisation bodies CEN/CENELEC and ISO/IEC in order to establish a common European standard for electric bus systems. The objective is to facilitate the transfer to electric bus systems in cities to ensure reliability and compatibility across bus brands and charging systems.

For opportunity charging, the system includes automatic contacting by a pantograph, wireless communication, contacting plates and infrastructure equipment that automatically contact vehicles with a pantograph. For overnight charging, the fast charging standard for cars (CCS) will be used as a base for the plug and for the communication.

Related Content

  • July 6, 2017
    Volvo cars to go all electric or hybrid by 2019
    From 2019, every Volvo launched by carmaker Volvo Cars, the premium car maker will have an electric motor, marking the historic end of cars that have only an internal combustion engine (ICE) and placing electrification at the core of its future business.
  • October 14, 2020
    Birmingham to open Clean Air Zone in 2021
    Hydrogen buses will also start operating in the UK city from next year
  • October 9, 2015
    Motorcycle manufacturers partner on C-ITS
    BMW Motorrad, Honda Motor Company and Yamaha Motor Company have joined forces to enhance Cooperative-Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS) applications in powered two-wheelers (PTWs) and are working together to establish a consortium named Connected Motorcycle Consortium. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed by all European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) manufacturing members in 2014, C-ITS features will be introduced from 2020 onwards. In order to acc
  • March 4, 2014
    Open data gives new lease of life to public travel information screens
    David Crawford finds resurgent interest in travel information screens for buildings. With city governments worldwide increasingly opening up and sharing their public transport data for general use, attention is focusing on the potential financial benefits – to transit operators and businesses more widely. Professor Stephen Goldsmith, who directs the US’ Harvard University’s Data-Smart City Solutions Project says: “Amid nationwide public-sector budget cuts, open data is providing a road map for improving tra