The eFöli project, funded by the City of Turku and TEKES (the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation) transformed the bus line number 1 of Turku region public transport to operate with electric vehicles. For this purpose, it purchased 6 electric busses which then needed to be powered in an emission-free, relatively noiseless and highly efficient charging environment.
In what could be considered a path-breaking solution for Turku, but a rather straight forward implementation by Heliox, our charging solution comprised DC 50 kW and OC 350 kW. Heliox implemented inverted pantographs as the interface for opportunity charging.
In Turku, since this 2016 pilot project on one line (line 1, from Turku Harbor to Turku Airport), the line is currently almost fully electric with the 6 operating busses. New lines going electric in 2021 are all regional lines, with 3 million passengers annually, and will significantly increase the range of electric public transportation in Turku. Many Finnish cities, including Turku, are aiming to become carbon neutral by 2029.
Heliox and TU/e aim to develop an integrated solution that makes charging heavy electric vehicles accessible without negative consequences for local electricity networks. Together, we want to achieve this by developing and demonstrating a new, multiple and dynamic charging system for heavy electric vehicles that is equipped with software-controlled stabilization to absorb disturbances on the local energy grid.
The intended system will consist of a dynamically configurable charging system based on modules that can be connected in parallel, each with three 60 kW outputs. With this they want to be able to distribute the loading capacity dynamically over several vehicles. The charging system can therefore be used for opportunity charging up to 360 kW for a single vehicle as well as for regular charging of several vehicles.
In addition, smart software and a microcontroller board are being developed. The converter of the charging system can be used via this software to compensate for grid disturbances. The disturbances are neutralized via a low impedance path. This allows losses on the grid to be converted into usable energy, while improving the voltage quality of the grid. In fact, the system completely takes over the function of current power filters on the basis of smart control.
The eFöli project, funded by the City of Turku and TEKES (the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation) transformed the bus line number 1 of Turku region public transport to operate with electric vehicles. For this purpose, it purchased 6 electric busses which then needed to be powered in an emission-free, relatively noiseless and highly efficient charging environment.
In what could be considered a path-breaking solution for Turku, but a rather straight forward implementation by Heliox, our charging solution comprised DC 50 kW and OC 350 kW. Heliox implemented inverted pantographs as the interface for opportunity charging.
In Turku, since this 2016 pilot project on one line (line 1, from Turku Harbor to Turku Airport), the line is currently almost fully electric with the 6 operating busses. New lines going electric in 2021 are all regional lines, with 3 million passengers annually, and will significantly increase the range of electric public transportation in Turku. Many Finnish cities, including Turku, are aiming to become carbon neutral by 2029.
.png)