Electric Bus Recharges with 15 Second Burst of Energy

Electric powertrain maker ABB has landed a contract from Transports Public Genevois, the public transport operator for Geneva, Switzerland to install a dozen of its fully electric buses.

What makes the buses unique is their ability to juice up while picking up passengers. The zero-emission buses will recharge using a series of 13 flash charging stations along the urban transport route. The bus will need less than a second to connect to the charging point and can be charged with a 15-second pulse of electricity. A longer 4-5 minute charge at the terminus will fully recharge the batteries.

The tech means that the bus needs no overhead power lines to operate. The line where the buses operate carry about 10,000 passengers per day and the buses being replaced are diesel. This is the first commercial implementation of this green technology, and the new buses will be fully commissioned by 2018.