Siemens launches interoperable electric bus charger

Siemens has launched an interoperable charging infrastructure for e-buses which capable of charging buses from different manufacturers. German public transport operator Hamburger Hochbahn is to begin operation of three additional e-buses on its ‘innovation line’ 109. The battery-powered buses built by Polish company Solaris will be charged at the same Siemens charging stations that also power the plug-in hybrid buses from Volvo which have been serving Hamburg since the end of 2014. The three buses fr
August 22, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
189 Siemens has launched an interoperable charging infrastructure for e-buses which capable of charging buses from different manufacturers.

German public transport operator Hamburger Hochbahn is to begin operation of three additional e-buses on its ‘innovation line’ 109. The battery-powered buses built by Polish company Solaris will be charged at the same Siemens charging stations that also power the plug-in hybrid buses from 609 Volvo which have been serving Hamburg since the end of 2014.

The three buses from Solaris are equipped with a Siemens onboard charging system designed for the quick-charge stations. Having both the onboard equipment and charging infrastructure provided by one supplier not only ensures interoperability, but also harmonises the systems based on open international standards. By equipping the buses with Siemens charging equipment, vehicles of every type and from different manufacturers can easily be integrated into one system.

Each of the two charging terminals has a capacity of 300 kW and two charging stations. The stations can provide the buses with enough energy to enable them to operate a full day from terminal to terminal on line 109. The charging operation takes only around six minutes.

The charging process uses open international standards IEC 61851 and ISO 15118 that are the basis for e-bus charging systems. These enable vehicles from different manufacturers to use the same charging system. This solution allows operators to select their e-buses independently of the charging infrastructure and ensures their interoperability.

Related Content

  • March 1, 2013
    Integrating ferry transport into smart ticketing
    Transport authorities are increasingly looking to integrate ferry travel into the mix of public transport. David Crawford finds out more. The new A$370m (US$398m) Opal public transport smartcard system being installed by the Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS)-led Pearl consortium in Sydney is geographically the largest in the world to date. The consortium includes the Commonwealth Bank of Australia; Australian retail payment system provider ePay; Australian infrastructure engineering company Downer Group; a
    Read More
  • September 15, 2014
    Kapsch’s scalable tolling back office accepts mixed feeds
    Arno Klamminger and Wolfgang Fleischer from Kapsch’s ETC Business Unit outline a new back office solution which addresses the ongoing changes in the road user charging sector. The rapidly increasing scale of some Road User Charging (RUC) schemes, both current and proposed, presents systems developers and manufacturers with significant opportunities in terms of product sales. However, it also presents them with significant challenges - and size is but one part – as at regional, national and international lev
    Read More
  • January 30, 2012
    Bus service data, better journey planning, better information
    Chris Gibbard and Paul Drummond of Transport Direct on developments in Great Britain in the electronic transfer of bus service data. Great Britain has a dynamic bus market which permits a bus operator to initiate or alter commercial routes by giving a minimum of eight weeks' notice to a registrar (the Traffic Commissioner). A Local Transport Authority (LTA) neither specifies nor determines such services. In addition to commercial bus routes, an LTA will tender and contract for the operation of those additio
    Read More
  • September 25, 2019
    Where is tolling tech taking us?
    From DSRC and RFID to GNSS or smartphones – which technology is ‘best’ for tolls, charging and pricing schemes? In the first of two articles, Josef Czako examines the options
    Read More

Highlighted Content