e-bus system Feldkirch
About this good practice
E-buses has to play a major role in future public transport. In a pilot project of VVV, the goal was to implement 4 e-buses to serve the area between Bludenz, Feldkirch and Götzis. The buses are in operation since February 2020. The Good Practice shows the necessity to care about the whole process from the political framework, over the implementation, operation, and optimization of the whole e-bus system.
The good practice reached its objective with a “problem first” (regional realization of the clean vehicle directive) approach and the interaction between stakeholders (VVV and state of Vorarlberg). Next, regions and bus lines suitable for electric buses were identified based on simulations of an external company. The economic efficiency, the electric affinity of the bus operators and other framework conditions were also investigated. In a last step, tendering, awarding, procurement and contracting of the vehicles and the charging infrastructure was necessary.
After installing the charging infrastructure by illwerke vkw, the local energy service provider, the operator of the buses (ÖBB postbus) started the test phase to learn about the maturity of the buses, experiences made within bus circulation, drivable distances and charging behaviors, special requirements for maintenance of vehicles and chargers. Lastly, tracking and measurement of charging behavior and mileage of the buses was implemented to gain information for an optimal operation.
Resources needed
- Additional costs compared to a Diesel bus: 300000 € (in 2018)
- Overall costs per km compared to a Diesel bus: 15 % higher (without funding)
- Overall personnel resources: 1 person year between 2013 and 2018
- Costs for external services, especially simulation of bus circulation plans: 100,000
Evidence of success
As a pilot e-bus system project, this good practice delivers new insights for future implementation of future e-buses in terms of tendering, awarding, procurement and contracting and operation. The GP can be used as a blueprint for further extending the e-bus fleet in the region of Vorarlberg. By optimization of charging plans, it can be shown that it is possible to reduce the grid load by 50% even when operating just 4 buses.
Potential for learning or transfer
Multiple experiences made within this pilot project seem to be interesting for institutions and policy makers:
- Simulation of the bus circulation plans deliver a very good base for the decision if electrification of a bus route is possible
- E-bus supply bottlenecks resulting from production capacities of manufacturers and the realization of clean vehicle directives in Europe are necessary to be taken into account when planning new bus routes
- Guarantee of batteries as minimization of financial risks is necessary for the operator
- Centralized initial procurement of e-buses and charging infrastructure to keep process as simple as possible
- Initial contracts designed to be arbitrarily expandable from the start
- Initial operational difficulties possible due to maturity of technology
- Charging optimization via simulation as possibility to lower grid impact and to downsize infrastructure
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Vorarlberger Verkehrsverbund (VVV)