Race for power driving

After years of research, the first generation of full-electric vehiclesfrom Volvo Busesgoes to the streets in 2017intending to reshape world’s urban transport

In addition to automation, one of the main current technologic bets ofAB Volvo is the projectElectriCity,which intends to open a new chapter in the urban planning of the future. Promising a reduction of 80 percent in fuel consumption, a lower noise level and a complete elimination of carbon emissions, the full-electric vehicles ofVolvo Busesare already in the phase of tests in some European cities such as Goteborg, in Sweden, where the manufacturer’s headquarters are located.

Developed in partnership with industrial giants such as Siemens and ABB, the global strategy of the brand is to supply urban transportsolutions that can be sustainable in economic and environmental points of view. Its strategy includes other products such as the hybrid versions (more than two thousand units sold around the world)and the electric-hybrid versions (produced since 2014 and also produced in Brazil).

In fact, the race to electrify the system of public transport opens new opportunities for urban planning—and also for equipment and vehicle manufacturers—in a world that may reach 9 billion inhabitants in 2050. Since it is more efficient, the technology of electrification intends to replace fossil fuels in a ten-year deadline. At that time, solar energy will be seen as the main source for power supplyeven forthe heaviestvehicles.

In this case, the logic is more economic than ecologic.In the same way, a quicker advance of this concept is limited by the high cost of lithium batteries, a key part of current prototypes. But this will probably be circumvented soon, since the price of these components is being reduced one percent at each four weeks.And when the equation is inverted and renewable sources of power will be more accessible than diesel oil, the Swedish manufacturer wants to be prepared for this scenario.After all—as Steve Jobs said—when a trend becomes highly obvious, this is a sign that the opportunity was gone.

INGENUITY

The path of Volvo Busesto becomein advance a global leader in a new scenario of sustainable urban transportstarted ten years ago with the first studies about alternative sources of energy. Three years ago, AB Volvowent to the municipality of Goteborg and proposed the development of an ambitious joint project that resulted in the creation of a platform for new products and services turned to electro-mobility.

After the establishment of other partnerships with companies such as the public transport operatorVästtrafik, the service supplierGöteborgEnergiand the research center of theChalmers University of Technology,a new test area calledElectriCity—whose first line (8.5 km long) connects Chalmers Johannebergto theLindholmenScience Park, in the so-called Route 55, operated byKeolisand crossing the city downtown since last June—was created. “Cooperation is very important for us. The city, the industry and the university are working together to create something unique”, says Christer Olsson, manager of Volvo Buses responsible by the operation of the line. “And after a year of tests we are ready to make this technology available for any city of the world.”

In terms of infrastructure, the project is also developing and testing new systems of bus stops, traffic management systems, safety concepts and high-power charging stations, in addition to provide a continuous training to the teams. In the Route 55,charging and access stations (one of them was built indoor to be protected from low winter temperatures and to make available different services) were developed by Siemensand are installed in both line terminals. In each of them, a system ofopportunity charging—which works through a pantographic arm connected just by contact with the charging station—was also installed. It reads vehicle information and controls the power transferred, everything in an automatic and safe way, as emphasized by the company. “When the alignment is finished and the driver applies the parking brake, Wi-Fi antennas installed in the bus and in the charger communicate, identify and detect if the 600-volt insulating system of the vehicle is completely locked”, details Magnus Broback, director ofthe City Mobility project from Volvo Buses. “Then the pantographic arm goes down and carries out a new test to check if there is no current leakage. Charging is liberatedonly after confirmation.”

The operation—carried out during the time of loading and unloading passengers—takes up to six minutes to supply the complete charging. “But the bus says when it needs power charging”, highlights Håkan Johansson, technician of Volvo Buses who works in the project, adding that the electric infrastructure also foresees smart charging (“Smart Conductive Charging”), carried out when the vehicle is in motion around the city. As backup service, there is a control room installed in theVolvo Bus Experience Center,where the vehicles return at the end of each day and where four technicians and one leader carry out tests and generate information about the prototype. “This project also stimulated new ways of working in terms of safety and efficiency”, comments Olsson.