Lifecycle costs and charging requirements of electric buses with different charging methods

How Can Autonomous and Connected Vehicles, Electromobility, BRT, Hyperloop, Shared Use Mobility and Mobility-As-A-Service Shape Transport Futures for the Context of Smart Cities?

“…Electric bus fleets can be emission-free, easy to integrate into an existing infrastructure, ecological and customer-friendly but according to [38] due to their expensive technology, lifecycle costs can be much higher in comparison to diesel or hybrid buses, for now at least. The selection process of electric technology is highly sensitive to operational context and the energy profile of the city host but recent research [39] highlights that hybrid buses, due to their significantly lesser capacity to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would be suitable only for short-term objectives as a stepping-stone towards full electrification of transit.…”

Assessing life cycle impacts and the risk and uncertainty of alternative bus technologies

“… Although life cycle impacts can be significantly affected by operational factors, such as auxiliary loads [14,15,20,46] and drivetrain component replacement frequency [5,6,11,17,24,25,49], many models use static inputs of fuel economy [13,17,21,23,42,50] and battery replacements [9][10][11]17,46]. However, other research has used vehicle simulation models that are sensitive to varying input parameters to predict the fuel or energy consumption, costs and emissions criteria over a drive cycle [5,6,11,14,46,49]. Further developments have integrated the simulation models into life cycle models to calculate battery replacements [5,6,49].…”

“…However, other research has used vehicle simulation models that are sensitive to varying input parameters to predict the fuel or energy consumption, costs and emissions criteria over a drive cycle [5,6,11,14,46,49]. Further developments have integrated the simulation models into life cycle models to calculate battery replacements [5,6,49]. The use of formulation-approach mathematical models, reflective of how urban buses are used in service, will ensure an appropriate level of modelling fidelity.…”

“… Although WTW assessment is a sound scientific methodology for comparing alternative drivelines, it can be considered a 'narrow point of view' as it excludes the impacts of raw material extraction and processing, manufacturing, and decommissioning of the vehicle itself [28]. Of the bus life cycle modelling studies reviewed, only four consider the economic impacts of use, acquisition/manufacturing, maintenance and infrastructure phases [15,24,46,49] and only one study considered environmental impacts of the same system boundary phases [17].…”

“…where Cinfra is the capital infrastructure cost per bus, y is the service year (yr), Ys is the total number of service years (assumed 12 yrs [17]), fo&m is the yearly infrastructure operation and maintenance cost as a percentage of the capital cost (3% [49]) and r is the discount rate, 3.5% [60]. Emissions coefficients derived from the EIO-LCA model ( Table 2) are contained in equation 6.…”