Swiss battery company Leclanche has unveiled its first all-electric bus to coincide with Busworld Europe, a large trade fair for public road transport professionals, in Bruges.
In cooperation with the Dutch bus manufacturer Van Hool company and Canadian aerospace and transport company Bombardier, Lechlanche’s bus has made-to-measure lithium-ion battery packs which have thermal management, chargers and connectivity to fully integrated electric drive trains.
Leclanche has also provided the fast-charge battery system and battery management software, which includes remote management and conductive chargers.
The bus project was part of a so-called ‘living lab for electric vehicles programme’ that was initiated by the Flemish Ministry for Innovation.
“Bus operators around the world are actively addressing the dual challenge of reducing harmful emissions and at the same time reducing cost of fleet operations,” said Lechlanche CEO Anil Srivastava.
“Thanks to a series of innovations and cost reduction, hybrid and full-electric buses are competitively addressing both these challenges.”
Another European E-bus deal was signed this week, with Germany’s AKASOL agreeing to supply eight electric ‘bendy’ buses with lithium-ion batteries for the German city of Cologne.
The liquid-cooled AKASYSTEM batteries will receive a 250 kW charge at each terminal, via a roof-mounted pantograph, a process that takes less than ten minutes.
Transport authority KVB has paid 6 million euros for the battery systems.
