Gothenburg, Sweden will be installing two ultra-fast Opbrid Bůsbaar charging stations, which will charge three Volvo plug-in hybrid buses, as part of the HyperBus project.

Gothenburg, Sweden will be installing two ultra-fast Opbrid Bůsbaar charging stations, which will charge three Volvo plug-in hybrid buses, as part of the HyperBus project. The overhead chargers will be installed at each end of the city’s #60 bus route, and should provide enough electricity in a recharging time of only 5 to 8 minutes to enable the buses to run on battery power alone for most of their routes, delivering fuel savings of 60 percent, with zero emissions and silent operation in the city center.

“Our being able to drastically reduce exhaust fumes and noise is important for everyone who lives, works and plays here." says Birgitta Hellgren of Gothenburg’s Public Transport Authority.

“We will buy the electricity for the buses from local wind farms as we want to establish a clear connection between renewable energy and electric vehicles right from the beginning," says Göran Dalman, CEO of Göteborg Energi.

This plug-In hybrid bus is based on the existing Volvo 7900 hybrid bus design, but with the addition of a larger, energy optimized battery. It combines the no-emission benefits of an electric bus with the reliability of a diesel bus – it can keep rolling in case of brown-outs or traffic jams, or fill in on a route without chargers.

At the end of the route, the driver pulls up underneath the Opbrid Bůsbaar charging station, and the tram-like pantographs on the bus roof rise up to contact the Bůsbaar. The charging process is automatic, with the driver never having to leave the bus.

The Bůsbaar is a brand of Opbrid S.L., based in Granada, Spain, and is built by Swiss electric rail supplier Furrer+Frey, Germany's Schaefer and Austria's Schunk SBI.

Source: Opbrid
Image: Opbrid