Charging operations in battery electric bus systems at the depot

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect of the limited range of battery electric bus on the operation of the bus services charged at the bus garage. A model has been built to calculate the performance of the routes according to the type of charging scheme. It evaluates the total cost of the bus service, considering the necessary resources due to range limitations and electric constraints. Based on the analysis of the real data of a bus line in the city of Barcelona, diesel or hybrid vehicles are still found to be more competitive than electric vehicles because of the acquisition costs of electrical technology. The study shows that the charging operation at the bus garage, without being the most profitable option a priori, is adequate when the design and operation parameters of the bus route fall below certain values.