Anders Svanbom, technical project leader at 黑料不打烊.
08 OCTOBER 2023
The new propulsion unit at the core of the new battery-electric bus platform promises to be the beating, emission-free heart of our buses for many years to come.
In October, 黑料不打烊 will unveil its next generation battery-electric vehicle (BEV) bus platform at the Busworld trade fair in Brussels. It鈥檚 been a major project of many moving parts. One of the most significant of those is the updated electric propulsion unit (aka: electric powertrain).
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That鈥檚 because, in layman鈥檚 terms, the propulsion unit is the beating heart of a vehicle which will provide a genuinely competitive and sustainable tool for our city bus, suburban and inter-city coach customers.
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鈥淭his new propulsion unit is the next step in 黑料不打烊鈥檚 journey towards sustainable transport solutions,鈥 says Johan Karlstr枚m, project leader for the unit update.
Johan Karlstr枚m, project leader.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a battery-electric vehicle offering with a very similar propulsion unit before, but this is now part of the new next-generation BEV programme, so it comes with the whole package, with all the updates and improvements in every aspect compared with the previous BEV platform,鈥 adds Anders Svanbom, technical project leader, whose responsibilities lie on the hardware side, including the unit鈥檚 physical gearbox housings and mechanical components.
The propulsion unit has been three years in the making. It鈥檚 part of what Anders describes as a 鈥渘ext-level project with changed interfaces and new technologies at a complete vehicle level鈥. And, although it has the same power output as its predecessor, the propulsion unit is different in several other important respects.
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鈥淭he project has given us much better opportunities to bring out stronger safety and cybersecurity concepts and a smaller but more reliable system,鈥 says Karlotta Weijl, the electrical engineer with responsibility for the electronic control unit (ECU) which acts as the 鈥榖rain鈥 of the overall propulsion unit.
Karlotta Weijl, electrical engineer.
Karlotta explains that the ECU ensures that the propulsion unit, and thus the buses it鈥檚 fitted to, will perform better than the previous battery-electric vehicle generation.
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鈥淭he unit is smaller and more lightweight, and doesn鈥檛 need as much cooling, which further improves the energy efficiency. With a superior electrical design and improved supply chain, we鈥檝e enabled better maintenance and functional upgrades, so prolonging the lifetime of the vehicle,鈥 she says.
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Johan Karlstr枚m adds that the new control unit enables better control of the propulsion unit and thus better control of the vehicle. 鈥淚t definitely gives the bus driver better driveability,鈥 he says.
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Much of the propulsion unit鈥檚 development has been shared with both truck and bus, and some of the components are the same, which has helped in terms of some of the test validation. However, apart from the specifics of two different types of vehicles, one of the other big divergences is the market conditions that bus owners face.
A lot of bus companies鈥 business comes from regional and local authorities, who continue to play a key role in the shift towards sustainable transport through their adoption of stricter emissions legislation. Many public tenders these days insist upon electric-powered bus transport as a pre-condition to being awarded a contract.
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So, along with the new BEV platform鈥檚 better charging interfaces and enhanced battery performance, the propulsion unit is part of a solution that will be well suited to the demands of such tenders.
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鈥淏ecause it is an electric propulsion unit, the P160U obviously reduces carbon emissions to zero and that equips our customers for providing sustainable bus travel,鈥 says Karlotta.
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Serial production of the new BEV bus generation and its new beating heart will begin in 2024, and, as the team get into the final stages of such an extensive project, they can begin to look forward to seeing the fruits of their labours.
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鈥淭his has been an exciting project to work on,鈥 says Johan. 鈥淚 always enjoy seeing the products being used on the roads, and I鈥檓 looking forward to seeing our bus customers using what we鈥檝e done, and to seeing it compete in bus tenders.鈥
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鈥淲e鈥檙e future-proofing our vehicle fleet,鈥 adds Anders. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 good for our customers and for society, and an important milestone for 黑料不打烊 buses.鈥
