eBRT2030 innovations

The eBRT2030 project is shaping the future of sustainable urban mobility with cutting-edge innovations spanning three categories: vehicle systems, charging infrastructure, and IoT & Connectivity. Over the course of the project, these innovations will be developed and tested at our seven demo cities across Europe and beyond. From advanced energy management to charging solutions and seamless digital integration, these innovations will drive the future of EBRTs for years to come.

Explore the eBRT2030 innovations in the graphic below!

IoT monitoring platform with connected ITS systems

A 5G based IoT system will be established for the connectivity of EBRT with the transport operator’s back-end system for data monitoring and processing. Data related to EBRT energy consumption, battery operational status, occupancy level information etc. will be collected in order to be exploited by operator’s decision support tools. This information will be collected directly from vehicle’s management system and the on-board occupancy sensors, and will be communicated to the operator’s back-end system by establishing a reliable and secure communication link.

Where: Athens, Bogota

Mobility hub charging system

Research has shown that traction grids infrastructures, such as a trolleybus grid, can be used to charge other electrical vehicles. In this project, this concept will be applied to an EBRT station, allowing for the charging of multiple modes of transport vehicles, and consequently, enhance multi-modal mobility. The charging hub will also be integrated in local MaaS systems.

Where: Rimini

SRS Enhanced Electric Road System with 1 MW charging system

This innovation proposes an automatic connection device solution to enable more than 1MW to support the evolution of new powerful battery technologies used by the next EBRT generation. The intelligent charging solution will allow to adjust the power and charging time at each stop according to the real e-bus needs to increase battery lifetime and lower EBRT line global TCO.

Where: Tech2Op

Efficient, integrated and smart charging management systems

Implementation of the Open Charge Point Protocol v2.0 enables practical application of smart charging, offering bus operators an opportunity to optimise operational costs. Through an AI-driven approach, incorporating factors such as time-of-day pricing and passenger demand variations, charging strategies can be tailored to reduce daily energy costs by up to 30%. This project aims to integrate efficient charging management systems into EBRT, minimizing costs, battery wear, and grid utilisation. Innovative strategies including synchronised charging and load power optimisation will be implemented to further enhance efficiency and grid availability.

Where: Barcelona, Amsterdam, Prague

Optimised connected vehicle digital twin and monitoring system

Digital twin will support in fleet management strategies on charging based on accurate charging needs of the buses matched to the precise capacity of the charging infrastructure and power grid. Utilising digital twins to provide a layer of abstraction during fleet simulation will improve simulation speed during optimisation of the fleet charge scheduling and planning. Finally, the real-time monitoring of IoT connected vehicles will allow the digital twin to accurately predict service lifetime of powertrain components, thereby reducing maintenance costs.

Where: Athens

Intelligent driver support and safety systems

More and more safety systems are being introduced to assist bus drivers, which will also cover the transition to autonomous vehicles. These so-called advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are based on different technologies like cameras, radar, etc., and can increase functional and traffic safety both for passengers and other road users, but also increase efficiency in the operation of new eBRT systems. New services to anticipate vehicle manoeuvres and traffic scenarios are required to increase not only the functional safety of the vehicles themselves by the optimisation of the driver perception, decision making and action, but also the infrastructure, and the overall transport system with direct positive implications in traffic efficiency and pollution reduction.

Where: Barcelona and Tech2Op

Hybrid charging system with stationary battery buffer

To improve current stationary battery storage systems to support e-bus operations (including in situations with grid restraints or needing overnight-charging), it is necessary to determine how stationary storage can best support fast charging applications for a mixed electric BRT fleet, charging at 240kW or higher, supporting vehicles operating for 500km or more per day and operating 24/7. To further lower the operational costs and thereby total cost ownership (TCO) of an EBRT fleet, grid usage will be lowered by the application of a stationary battery, and the right balance will be struck between helping out the transmission system operator (TSO) by providing imbalance services, and the distribution system operator (DSO) by lowering peak usage of the regional grid.

Where: Amsterdam

Adaptive fleet scheduling and planning tool

Current EBRT scheduling faces challenges due to variables like limited electric bus range and operational charging. This innovative solution proposes AI-based adaptive strategies using connected ITS and IoT. This optimises fleet scheduling in real-time, considering factors like vehicle status, charging infrastructure, passenger load, and traffic. The goal is to enhance cost-effectiveness, punctuality, service quality, and emissions while adapting vehicle numbers for improved capacity utilisation, surpassing current state-of-the-art practices.

Where: Athens, Rimini, Bogota

In-motion (hybrid) charging systems

In-motion charging (IMC) technology, tested in cities with catenary networks, offers a unique approach for powering electric buses. The project explores a catenary-based opportunity charging strategy versus wireless IMC, aiming to enhance operational efficiency and reduce infrastructure costs for electric bus rapid transit (EBRT) systems. Leveraging existing infrastructure for charging could optimize EBRT development and operations, minimising expenses while maximising service flexibility.

Where: Athens, Prague, Rimini

Predictive maintenance strategies & battery state-of-health estimation

Predictive maintenance strategies attempt to forecast the health of the components inside an electric bus by periodically gathering and analysing relevant datasets for these components. Within this project, partners intend to adopt AI-based predictive maintenance and battery state-of-health estimation algorithms in which the working points of the different drivetrain components, the temperature, and the charging power in case of the battery will be considered to not only automatically schedule maintenance operations, but also optimise the operating schedule of the vehicle and charging power of the battery aiming to extend the lifetime of the components.

Where: Barcelona, Rimini

Advanced energy and thermal management

Developing novel advanced energy and thermal management strategies by utilising novel first-order thermal management system computational simulation modules. A proper energy and thermal management of electric vehicles is an important factor to maximise the driving range and passenger comfort. Recent studies have shown the effect of environmental and driving conditions on the energy consumption of electric buses and proposed new solutions to improve the energy savings by implementing ECO-features.

Where: Barcelona, Athens, Tech2Op