Graz e-bus (Graz - Austria)

In 2017, the City of Graz, Austria, began piloting an innovative clean public mobility system: the e-bus, an electric vehicle that uses capacitors instead of batteries to store energy. The e-buses are running in specific lines that are equipped with two 340 kW AC/DC fast charging stations (one at a terminal and one at an intermediate stop). The city will be testing two models of e-buses: one from Chariot Motors and one from CRRC.

Each “Ultra-Capacitor” (UC) e-bus has to be charged at the terminal station for 2 or 3 minutes, drives around 20 km of its scheduled route and then has to be fully charged for 2 or 3 minutes to continue the process. In case of traffic congestion there is always a stop along the route that is equipped with the necessary charging infrastructure to elevate energy levels just enough to reach its destination (30 seconds is enough time to charge – this is called ultra-fast charging).

Besides the advantage of having no substantial range reduction, the e-bus can be manufactured with a significantly inferior environmental impact, because there are no batteries involved. The use of the e-bus also allows to reduce noise pollution in the city and produces close to zero CO2 emissions (subsequently, the air quality is better). This urban mobility option is revealing itself as a more reliable, economical, and ecological system than other solutions relying on conventional electric vehicles.

Sources:

http://smartcityhub.com/sustainability/city-bus-future-e-bus-without-batteries/

http://www.holding-graz.at/graz-linien/news/neue-e-busse-fuer-graz.html

https://www.meinbezirk.at/graz/lokales/der-erste-e-bus-fuer-graz-rollt-an-d1875525.html

http://chariot-electricbus.com/projects/graz/