Bombardier PRIMOVE to Provide Wireless Charging and Battery Technology to Berlin
BERLIN, March 24, 2015 /3BL Media/ – Berlin will be the first capital city to turn a complete bus line into an eco-friendly route using e-buses with the wireless PRIMOVE charging system and the compact PRIMOVE battery system. Starting in summer 2015, passengers on the city centre bus line 204 will be able to enjoy a quiet and zero-emission ride through Berlin. The German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is supporting the project in the context of the "International Showcase Programme for E-mobility Berlin Brandenburg”.
On the occasion of the installation of the inductive charging pad at Berlin’s first charging station the project partners Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG; Berlin public transport authority), Technical University (TU) Berlin and Bombardier Transportation invited representatives from the BMVI, the City of Berlin and media to inform them about the technical details of the wireless charging technology, the current project status and the further project milestones. At the event, guests had the rare opportunity to inspect the charging pad, which will be invisibly embedded under the ground in just a few days. The precast charging pad weighs seven tons, is five meters long, two meters wide and 25 centimetres thick.
Bombardier’s innovative PRIMOVE system charges the Berlin buses' batteries at 200 kW in the very few minutes of dwell time spent at the end stations. This allows the e-buses to serve the 6.1 km long bus line back and forth – without additional stops or battery changing for an entire day. As with an electric toothbrush, charging works without a cable connection. As soon as the e-bus is positioned over the underground charging pad, the pick-up coil mounted on the underside of the vehicle lowers. The inductive energy transfer begins, generating an electromagnetic field. This poses no danger to drivers, passengers or pedestrians – or even to people with pacemakers. With the optimization of the transfer frequencies and advanced shielding, the charging system falls well below the very strict European limit values for electromagnetic emissions.
Starting in April 2015, additional PRIMOVE charging stations will be installed at the route’s second end stop as well as at BVG’s bus depot where the four e-buses will be based. The e-buses will be built this spring by the Polish manufacturer Solaris. The twelve meter long vehicles are nearly identical to the Urbino 12 electric bus equipped with PRIMOVE charging and batteries, which has been in successful passenger operations in Braunschweig, Germany, since March 2014. The delivery of the first e-bus to the Bombardier site in Mannheim, Germany, for final coordination of the technical components is planned for May 2015. Following this, the vehicles will be delivered to Berlin for approval and commissioning. In summer 2015, passenger operations on route 204 will commence.
Berlin’s new fleet of e-buses will save around 260 tons of CO2 per year. In order to achieve the same affect, around 250 private cars in Berlin, on the basis of normal driving behaviour, would have to be switched to electric mode.
Further material for download:
Graphics and facts about the technology as well as photos of the event are available under the following link:
Can an electric bus compete with a diesel bus in daily operation? You’ll find the answer in this video.
How cities already benefit from the convenient zero-emission PRIMOVE e-mobility solutions can be seen in this video about the PRIMOVE project in Braunschweig, Germany.
About the PRIMOVE portfolio
With its flexible PRIMOVE portfolio, Bombardier offers the world’s only one-stop shop for true e-mobility: The fully integrated system for electric rail and road vehicles allows cities and the transport industry to easily incorporate electric mobility. The complete package includes the inductive PRIMOVE fast charging system, the lightweight, long-life PRIMOVE batteries and the efficient PRIMOVE propulsion.
Further PRIMOVE projects
The first PRIMOVE 12 meter long e-bus has successfully served passengers in Braunschweig, Germany since March 2014. In December 2014, the world’s first 18 meter articulated e-buses complemented passenger operations in Braunschweig. Bombardier is currently also working on implementing its PRIMOVE system for electric buses in Mannheim, Germany, and in Bruges, Belgium. For the booming Chinese city of Nanjing, trams have been equipped with lightweight and long-life PRIMOVE batteries. In addition, tests with a dynamically charged truck were successfully completed in Mannheim in January 2014.
About Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG)
The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) (German for Berlin Transport Company) is the largest municipal public transportation company in Germany with over 13,000 employees. The BVG operates 10 underground lines, 22 tram lines and 151 bus lines, and serves 7,500 stations and bus stops in total. The company’s 3,000 buses and trains carry about one billion passengers every year. On the international stage, its network density, service frequency and 24-hour service are among the very best.
About Technical University Berlin
With nearly 33,000 students, around 100 courses of study and 40 institutes, the Technical University Berlin is one of Germany's large, internationally renowned and long-standing technical universities. The university was able to attract 174 million euros of third-party funding in 2013. The university in Germany's capital is characterised by its excellent performance in research and teaching, the very high standard of graduate qualifications and a modern approach to management. The performance spectrum of its seven faculties represents a unique combination of natural and technical sciences with planning, economic and social sciences and humanities in a technical university.
About Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation, a global leader in rail technology, offers the broadest portfolio in the rail industry and delivers innovative products and services that set new standards in sustainable mobility. BOMBARDIER ECO4 technologies – built on the four cornerstones of energy, efficiency, economy, and ecology – conserve energy, protect the environment and help to improve total train performance for operators and passengers. Bombardier Transportation is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and has a very diverse customer base with products or services in more than 60 countries. It has an installed base of over 100,000 vehicles worldwide.
About Bombardier
Bombardier is the world’s largest manufacturer of both planes and trains. Looking far ahead while delivering today, Bombardier is evolving mobility worldwide by answering the call for more efficient, sustainable, and enjoyable transportation everywhere. Our vehicles, services and, most of all, our employees are what make us a global leader in transportation.
Bombardier is headquartered in Montréal, Canada. Our shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD) and we are listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indices. In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, we posted revenues of $20.1 billion. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.
Note to Editors
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BOMBARDIER, PRIMOVE, ECO 4 and The Evolution of Mobility are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
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