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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Qatar invests $70 billion to pave the way to world beating transportation
    July 26, 2013
    Eng. Zeina Nazer looks at what Qatar’s recently-announced investment in transport infrastructure will mean on the ground. Qatar is experiencing a rapid economic and industrial growth. This growth is characterised by a rapid population increase and by the urgent need towards the development of both infrastructure projects and major transport projects. In order to handle this rate of development within Qatar, Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is developing a fully-integrated multimodal transportation system in
  • Global V2V penetration into new vehicles to rise by 2027
    June 13, 2013
    A new report from ABI research concludes that global vehicle to vehicle (V2V) penetration into new vehicles will increase from just over 10 per cent in 2018 to 70 per cent in 2027, with the EU, US, and Japan as key regions adopting V2V in the mid-term. “V2X market and regulatory dynamics vary greatly from region to region. While the US will decide whether or not to mandate V2X by the end of 2013 with implementation not expected before 2018, in Europe the Car 2 Car Communication Consortium (C2C-CC) has issue
  • Internet-connected cars their functionality and safety challenges
    February 27, 2013
    Internet-connected cars are poised to flood the market in the near future. Pete Goldin considers the functionality they offer, the technology they use and the challenge they represent in terms of driver safety. Many vehicles on the road today offer some sort of inter­net connectivity and experts agree that this capability will become a competi­tive differentiator in the automotive industry in the next few years. The era of the digital vehicle, it seems, has started. “We clearly see that cars in the near f
  • The FIA’s formula for future mobility
    March 11, 2016
    The FIA’s Region I president Thierry Willemarck tells Colin Sowman about his organisation’s campaigning work for the rights of road users and mobility for all. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile may be best known as the FIA and the governing body for world motor sport - particularly Formula 1 - but its influence spreads far wider than the racetrack. The organisation was founded in 1904 with a remit to safeguard the rights and promote the interests of motorists and motor sport across the world. No