The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) groups together the five main European bus manufacturers: Daimler, Iveco, MAN, Scania and Volvo. The market for electric buses is growing steadily day by day. Public transport authorities (PTAs) and bus operators are increasingly planning to purchase electric buses and, in some cases, it is even a mandatory requirement in tenders.
The ACEA bus manufacturers have a unique position in delivering all types of commercial vehicles to customers across Europe. It is in their customers’ interest to have charging solutions limited to a number of pan-European standardised ones, allowing for interoperability to avoid lock-in effects and to increase efficiency.
During the transition to electric buses, conflicts between several parallel and/or competing technical solutions should be avoided. From an efficiency standpoint, it should be possible to connect as many vehicles as possible to the same charging device and/or charging station. In a situation where different suppliers comply with the same standardised technology, cities and bus operators will have freedom of choice. To that end, this paper makes key recommendations for the charging of electric buses.
