Battery electric bus

A battery-electric bus in Manchester

A battery-electric bus is a bus that uses batteries as a source of power. In that respect its similar to an electric car. Sometimes, electric buses are built like a trolleybus, which can take power from an overhead line. Today, many trolleybuses also have batteries, which allow them to run in emergencies, when there's no power.

Advantages of an Electric Bus

• Environmental benefits of electric buses: the exhaust fumes of diesel buses are a health hazard in big cities and are extremely unpleasant to breathe. Electric buses have zero tailpipe emissions. Intelligent transportation systems for smart cities are a key stepping stone to cleaner air, decarbonization and fighting climate change.
• Community and social benefits: an efficient and sustainable public transport system preserves citizens and safeguards their health, as air pollution can significantly increase the population's mortality risk. Moreover, a sustainable public transport makes a city much more liveable by reducing the noise pollution created by loud and clunky diesel buses. Looking at the big picture, electric buses invite city managers to rethink their infrastructure needs. Electric buses silently glide through urban avenues, maintaining lower noise levels both inside and out, making it a wise transit choice for heavily populated streets and neighborhoods.
• Economic benefits: the initial costs of switching to an electric fleet can be high because of the spending needed to build a charging infrastructure. But this investment is offset by savings of up to 70% in other areas: electric buses have lower consumption costs, fewer components, require less maintenance and have a longer life cycle. They may be more expensive at the beginning, but they are far cheaper in the medium and long term. To help with financing, Enel X offers e-Bus as-a-Service, an integrated turnkey solution in which Enel X covers the initial investment and takes on the operating risk. Moreover, public administrations and public institutions in general indirectly benefit from saving on public health costs.

Working process of an Electric Bus

An electric bus plugs into the electricity grid to get charged, and stores the electricity in batteries (often located on the roof). The batteries power an electric engine. Since an electric engine has fewer parts than an internal combustion engine, it requires less maintenance. When the batteries are depleted, the bus is recharged at charging stations (which takes an average of 4 hours with a 150 kW charger). Since buses run on regular routes, scheduling a timetable for batteries to be recharged is a fairly straightforward planning exercise. Depending on the size of the bus and on such factors as traffic and road surface conditions, driving styles, average weather temperatures, load factor (and more), a bus can travel an average of 250 km (155 miles) on a single charge during its first year in service.