16th of December 2019: At the break of dawn, 55 VDL Citea’s SLF-120 leave the depot at the Kleiweg in Rotterdam to start their journey. Today marks the celebration of the official go-live of this concession. Heliox has been involved as a charging infrastructure partner to VDL. A project that characterizes novelties that are the result of the requirements of this concession.
The new e-buses will be operational in the cities of Rotterdam, Schiedam, and Vlaardingen. All buses are charged via pantograph, the so-called Bus-Up system. Two methods are used: via depot charging at the Kleiweg in Rotterdam (consisting of 32 times 2x 30 kW Dynamic Charging chargers) and opportunity charging by means of 16 times 300 kW Charger at different locations in the three cities.
For this project, Heliox charging infrastructure encompasses the latest innovations:
- Smart Switch Charging: This project is the official launch of a new Heliox product, the 2 x 30 kW Dynamic. Dynamic refers to the ability of the charger to switch between one or two buses being charged. In case one bus is being charged, it is charged at full power of 60 kW. If two buses are being connected, two times 30 kW is being transferred to the buses.
- Charger located underground: Rotterdam’s cityscape had to stay intact, without distracting public street furniture. For that matter, Heliox chargers have been placed underground at Rotterdam CS. To fit in with the street view, masts that hold the contact hood have been designed especially to fit regular lamppost design.
- State of the art infrastructural adaptations: In some instances, the distance between charger and masts was exceptional. For example in Vlaardingen West, a special cable path was designed with a length of 135 meters.
“The special attributes realized in this project show that Heliox is capable and flexible in delivering within the specified parameters, says Koen van Haperen, CCO of Heliox. We are proud that we have been given the opportunity to show we can think along with the challenges the RET and MRDH faced”.
Maurice Unck, CEO of RET adds, “This is the RET’s first step towards a 100 percent zero-emission bus fleet in 2030. As a public transport company, we value taking responsibility in making our operations even more sustainable then it already is. Heliox proved to be an expert partner in this process.”
Heliox is further pushing the limits of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future for the next generations.
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