https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/procurement/ontario-begins-first-of-its-kind-40m-electric-bus-tests-211692/
Ontario begins first-of-its-kind, $40M electric bus tests
The ambitious project integrates two bus manufacturers with two charging
station manufacturers to design and deliver compatible high-powered
charging systems for electric bus technology
April 16, 2018
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
NEWMARKET, Ont.—The Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation
Consortium (CUTRIC) with its partners in Brampton and the Regional
Municipality of York, have launched the Pan-Canadian Electric Bus
Demonstration & Integration Trial: Phase I.
The trials are part of a national coordinated effort to advance zero
emissions transit technology.
The project combines manufacturers, transit agencies, utilities, funding
partners, research teams and technology developers to ensure a
world-leading demonstration trial with TransLink in Vancouver, B.C., and
now with Brampton Transit and the Regional Municipality of York, with
Brampton Transit the first to initiate and champion the national trial
planning process back in 2016.
“With this visionary funding investment, we are launching the
Pan-Canadian Electric Bus Demonstration & Integration Trial: Phase I –
which has a national project value of $40 Million and encompasses 18
standardized and interoperable electric buses, seven standardized and
interoperable overhead chargers, and on five routes in three cities,”
says CUTRIC Executive Director & CEO Josipa Petrunic. “Today’s funding
announcement by the Province of Ontario is building the future of
low-carbon smart mobility in this country.”
The project integrates competitive bus manufacturers with competitive
charging station manufacturers, all of which are designing and
delivering interoperable high-powered charging systems for on-route
charged electric buses across multiple municipalities and utility
jurisdictions.
“It is the first global standardization trial that integrates more than
one bus manufacturer and more than one charging system manufacturer,”
says Petrunic. “This type of collaboration, standardization and
integration is proving to the country, and to the world, that transit
agencies can be at the forefront of technology development and job
creation. And it’s happening in Canada first.”
Brampton Transit, York Region Transit and TransLink are working with two
Canadian transit vehicle manufacturers (New Flyer Industries of
Winnipeg, Man. and Nova Bus, of St. Eustache, Que.) and two charging
station manufacturers (ABB Group and Siemens Canada) to deploy four
electric buses and two overhead electric charging stations that plug
into an open protocol known as the OppCharge protocol, first jointly
developed by Siemens and Volvo Bus Corp.
The protocol standardizes the design of the off-board pantograph that
connects the high-powered charging station to the bus, communications
between the bus and the charger, and performance metrics of the overall
system.
“This project is also unique in that it is the first electric bus
collaboration in which a utility—in this case Newmarket-Tay Power
Distribution Ltd—is purchasing an on-route charging station on behalf of
its local transit agency,” adds Petrunic. “The launch of a new business
model that puts a utility at the forefront of electric transit operation
and service delivery will highlight Canada as a global leader in
electric vehicle innovation.”
The project will continue to attract electric vehicle manufacturing in
Canada among heavy-duty platform designers and manufacturers – helping
to grow jobs in the low-carbon economy nationally.
“To get this project going we had to sell a vision to a lot of sceptics.
The vision is one in which publicly shared mobility services, like
transit, can be faster, cheaper and greener than automobiles in all
jurisdictions of the country in the future,” continues Petrunic.
“Brampton, York Region and TransLink bought into that vision with us,
and today’s announcement is the first step in a multi-year effort to
make it a reality.”
“This is good news for Canadian job growth in the manufacturing and tech
sectors which must demonstrate that their e-buses and e-chargers work
seamlessly with one another wherever they are used,” states Petrunic.
“Growth in skilled trades will be aligned to electric bus manufacturing
by Nova Bus and New Flyer, charging system innovation by ABB Group and
Siemens, and electric mobility maintenance support in Canada.”
The trial will also integrate neutral third-party vehicle and systems
analyses by the National Research Council of Canada.