Top European electric bus makers – Volvo, Solaris, Irizar and VDL have agreed to charge their vehicles with charging infrastructure provided by Siemens, Heliox and ABB.

The primary target is to achieve an open interface between electric buses and charging infrastructure as to widespread the electric bus transport system in European cities.

The public transport community is already gearing for electric buses in Europe and standardization activities have been commenced through the European body (CEN-CENELEC) and the international organization for standardization (ISO/IEC).

Also Read : Solaris Trollino bus enters German city Esslingen

European standards in public electric mobility are expected to come in place in 2019 while international standards in 2020. Already many cities across European countries are implementing electric bus transport systems.

In order to meet the requirements of these cities, European bus manufacturers Volvo, Solaris, Irizar and VDL along with global charging system providers Siemens, Heliox and ABB have agreed to an open, transparent and voluntary approach.

Common, preferred interfaces will be opened-up for the use of all these electric bus players for charging their vehicles.

Also Read : Commercial vehicle sales on high note in Europe in 2015

The group comprising these four electric bus manufacturers and three charging solution providers is committed to contribute to European standardization activities. It will share experiences with CEN/CENELEC and ISO/IEC to establish a common European standard for electric bus transport systems.

The objective is to facilitate the transfer to electric bus systems in cities to ensure reliability and compatibility across bus brands and charging systems. Other electric bus manufacturers in Europe and charging system solution providers are also invited to join the cooperation.

The opportunity charging system includes automatic contacting by a pantograph, wireless communication, contacting plates and infrastructure equipment, which can automatically contact vehicles with a pantograph.

Also Read : Irizar i2e electric bus presented in COP21 Bus Summit

As the top European electric bus makers like Volvo, Solaris, Irizar and VDL and charging infrastructure providers Siemens, Heliox and ABB have joined their hands to promote electric vehicle public system in Europe, it is expected that many European cities may come forward to introduce electric buses as mode of public transport in the near future.