The Netherlands upping electric and hybrid buses

Electric and hybrid buses are replacing pure diesel in the Netherlands where diesel buses will no longer be purchased from 2025 and all public transport buses will be electric by 2030.

RET Rotterdam has 55 e-buses which will be used from late 2019 for shorter city services in Rotterdam, Vlaardingen and Schiedam.

It has just signed a deal for 103 Citea SLE-120 hybrid and 40 Citea LLE-120 diesel Euro VI, with the hybrid and diesel buses used for Rotterdam regional services.

VDL will provide charging infrastructure for the e-buses, charged overnight at a depot and during service with a rapid charging system.

The hybrid and lightweight diesel buses are driven by an electric motor for which the electric current either comes from the battery pack, in which case it is purely electric-powered, or the diesel generator, VDL says. When the diesel engine is running, this also charges the batteries, while regenerative braking is used as well.

In zones where the diesel engine is running, the speed will be kept constant to minimise noise, Sustainable Bus

reports.

Pure electric buses tend to be more popular than plug-in hybrids In Europe, with 74% of the electric fleet all-electrics at December 31, 2017. Belgium is an exception after opting early to go for plug-in buses.

Flemish public transport company De Lijn ordered 84 hybrid buses out of 146 buses from VDL Bus & Coach. The hybrids are a follow-up order to the 66 Citeas Sle hybrid ordered in October 2017. All the buses will be delivered in the first half of 2019.

Diesel buses remain part of the transition, using a start-stop system that saves fuel because the engine is shut off at stops or at standstill.

“Along with the award of 55 fully electric buses in July, the award of this concession for 143 VDL Citeas is a sign of RET’s confidence in VDL,” VDL Group president Willem van der Leegte says. “We are also pleased that our buses will contribute to further carbon dioxide reduction in the city and thus a cleaner Rotterdam.”

A further 50 e-buses are due in 2021, 50 more in 2024 and 110 in 2029.

RET chief executive officer Maurice Unck says the contract represents another step in the sustainability of its bus fleet.

VDL Bus & Coach also has 43 electric articulated buses under Hermes (Transdev group) in Eindhoven, and 100 electric buses operating around Schipol airport in Amsterdam under Connexxion (Transdev).