How does the weather affect the performance of electric buses in real-world operation? Telematics specialist ViriCiti looked into that question, analyzing over 100 e-buses in the Netherlands over the course of several seasons and months.

ViriCiti gathered, anonymized and analyzed data from 79 12-meter buses and 27 18-meter buses active across 7 cities in the Netherlands and linked to the ViriCiti telematics dashboard. The buses are produced by various manufacturers.

The study found that the 12-meter buses drove an average distance of 218 km (135 miles) per day, and the 18-meter buses drove an average of 164 km (102 miles) per day. Average consumption for the 12-meter buses was 1.15 kWh/km (1.85 kWh/mile); for the 18-meter buses it was 1.63 kWh/km (2.63 kWh/mile).

Temperature is known to be one of the main factors that influences energy consumption and range. ViriCiti found that the energy consumption of 12-meter buses increased by an average of 14% in cold temperatures (-10° to +14° C), and increased by an average of 9% in high temperatures (20° to 29° C).

The 18-meter buses experienced similar effects—average consumption increased by 21% during cold weather, and by 12% during high temperatures.

Source: ViriCiti