Fast-charge electric buses

The increasing lean towards electrification and hybridisation of commercial vehicles is creating demand for sustainable and cost-efficient technologies. Finland's Electric Commercial Vehicles (ECV) project, coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre, brings together business, research institutes and universities to create products and markets across the entire value chain — from components to systems.

The aim of ECV has been to support in the process developing new competitive export products such as electric buses and mobile machinery. The project has created a versatile development and expert infrastructure for electric utility vehicles, light and heavy passenger cars, buses, cargo transport and working machinery.

ECV has three main areas of focus: electricity storage and batteries; vehicles, machines and their power line; and systems for vehicles and mobile machines and charging.

One of the key developments has been a four-year pre-commercial innovation pilot of energy-efficient and fast-charged electric buses, which are a step towards emission-free public transport. Low energy consumption decreases the operating costs of the buses, which are charged automatically at bus stops while passengers are getting on board. Automatic fast-charging systems are being implemented for testing on 12 electric buses.

The batteries of electric buses can be charged with enough energy for the next round in as little as 1.5–3 minutes. Thanks to the aluminium chassis, the bus is light, but it is also quiet and energy efficient.

Currently the buses are running in Espoo, Finland's second largest city, but will soon be introduced in Helsinki and Turku, with the objective of broader scale adoption to further the development of electric public transport.