Berlin to introduce e-bus line with wireless PRIMOVE charging and battery system

Berlin will be the first capital city to introduce an inner city e-bus line using Bombardier’s wireless PRIMOVE charging and battery system.

The line will become completely eco-friendly and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 260 tons per year.

Starting in summer 2015, passengers on the city centre bus line 204 will be able to enjoy a quiet and zero-emission ride through Berlin. The programme is supported by The German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and is part of the International Showcase Programme for E-mobility Berlin Brandenburg.

The Bombardier charging pad will be embedded underground will weigh seven tons, is five meters long, two meters wide and 25 centimetres thick. Bombardier’s wireless PRIMOVE system charges the Berlin buses’ batteries at 200 kW in the very few minutes of dwell time spent at the end stations. This allows the e-buses to serve the 6.1 km long bus line back and forth – without additional stops or battery changing for an entire day. As soon as the e-bus is positioned over the underground charging pad, the pick-up coil mounted on the underside of the vehicle lowers. The inductive energy transfer begins, generating an electromagnetic field. This poses no danger to drivers, passengers or pedestrians – or even to people with pacemakers. With the optimization of the transfer frequencies and advanced shielding, the charging system falls well below the very strict European limit values for electromagnetic emissions.

The e-buses will be built this year by Solaris and additional charging stations will be installed at the route’s second end stop and depot. The twelve meter long vehicle is practically identical to the Urbino 12 electric bus equipped with PRIMOVE charging and batteries, which has been in passenger operation in Braunschweig, Germany, since March 2014. The Berlin operation will begin on route 204 in summer 2015.