Hitachi ABB Power Grids accelerates sustainable mobility in Sweden and expansion of electric buses

Pioneering Grid-eMotion^TM Fleet charging infrastructure solution supports the increase of quiet, exhaust-free buses in Västerås - one of the country’s biggest cities 

Hitachi ABB Power Grids today announced that it has won an order to supply its Grid-eMotion Fleet smart-charging infrastructure solution to Västerås – one of Sweden’s largest cities – enabling it to sustainably expand its electric bus fleet. The contract was awarded by Holmbergs EL AB who will deliver the project to public transport operator, Svealandstrafiken AB.

The transition to an electrified transportation sector is key to accelerating Sweden’s carbon-neutral energy future. The Swedish government is driving to reduce transportation emissions by 70 percent by 2030 (compared to 2010) as part of its bid to achieve its Paris Agreement commitment of net zero emissions by 2045 at the latest¹.

Hitachi ABB Power Grids will provide a grid-to-plug, modular, scalable and compact system based on its pioneering Grid-eMotion Fleet technology for charging fleets of electric vehicles. The order includes innovative charging infrastructure connected to the grid and a digital control system to monitor fleet charging.

“Sweden has an ambitious program to remove greenhouse gas emissions from its roads and make the air cleaner and healthier for its citizens,” said Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Grid Integration business. “We are proud to be delivering our Grid-eMotion Fleet – our smart fleet charging infrastructure solution – to help one of the country’s biggest cities achieve its sustainability targets.”

The Grid-eMotion Fleet charging solution will provide Svealandstrafiken, with a scalable and flexible solution to expand their electric bus fleet in Västerås for today’s generations and those to come. Thanks to its modularity the Grid-eMotion Fleet innovative charging solution is relatively easy to transfer to another location for a new bus depot in Västerås in the future.

Svealandstrafiken already runs a fossil-free, carbon-neutral fleet of more than 300 buses, most of which use biogas. The 10-17 new electric articulated buses, which will be running in Västerås in 2022, are the first step in the electrification strategy of Svealandstrafiken and aim to improve further its sustainability – lower noise and vibrations at low speeds, no exhaust emissions and much higher energy efficiency per kilometer². Electric buses offer the public transport authority, in cooperation with the city, the possibility to open new routes with stops that were previously not considered due to exhaust emissions and noise limits, including for example in house bus near the train station, university or at hospitals.

Grid-eMotion Fleet

The pioneering technology leader launched Grid-eMotion Fleet around one year ago. Customers value Grid-eMotion Fleet, which is grid-code compliant and compact ‘grid-to-plug’ charging solution that can be installed in existing or new bus and electric vehicle depots and scaled flexibly as the fleet gets greener. It is part of the Grid-eMotion portfolio, which includes Grid-eMotion Flash, the world’s fastest flash-charging system for buses on the go; and e-mesh, a digital control system for the charging infrastructure that calculates bus energy consumption, monitors battery life and route data, and optimizes depot power use, energy storage and overnight charging.

Grid-eMotion solutions are already operating or under development in Europe, UK, Australia, China, India, Pakistan and the Middle East.

(1)   Swedish Environmental Protection Agency: https://www.naturvardsverket.se/en/topics/climate-transition/sveriges-klimatarbete/swedens-climate-act-and-climate-policy-framework

(2)   International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Vol. 14, Issue 12, 2020: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15568318.2019.1666324