Powering Scandinavia’s Biggest E-bus Project in Norway

Unibuss, one of the biggest operators in Norway, converted its entire fleet of 40 busses to battery-electric busses. In less than 4 months, with a total of 115 electric bus lines, Oslo was to become home to Europe’s largest electric bus operation. However, the fleet needed to be powered efficiently and limited space was available for any charging solution. With Oslo’s ambitious target for zero emissions by 2028, Heliox was tasked with implementing the large-scale project in less than four months.

Space and time constraints challenged Heliox to think beyond the usual installations to provide a suitable and efficient charging solution. 9.8 MW infrastructure was put in place for the biggest e-bus charging network in Oslo. 

Heliox supplied and installed 40 Heliox fast-charging stations in Oslo to power the fleet of 40 all-electric busses with Portals - also provided and installed by Heliox - that worked as an appropriate space-saving solution. The e-busses automatically connected to the chargers and were compatible with Bus-Up and the CCS plug-in options. The Bus-Up solution utilized a roof-mounted pantograph, an interoperable and open interface for fast charging; and the solution included remote management to ensure high up-time throughout the operation. 

The installation included 12 Heliox OC 300 kW chargers, powerful chargers that can recharge the e-bus battery in just 2-5 minutes. An additional 28 Heliox FAST DC, 50 kW chargers, were also installed, ten of which charge via a CCS plug-in solution that offers a Plug & Play option. Hence, drivers only needed to connect the charger to the vehicle, and the charging process started immediately. 

Heliox provided a charging infrastructure that ensured the fleet was quickly operational and provided the possibility to upgrade in the future, using the existing 300 kW chargers. As always, Heliox is proud to partner with a climate-friendly initiative that works towards long-term energy management and sustainable goals. 

From the summer of 2019, a total of 115 electric busses operate major bus lines in Oslo and surrounding areas; 76 of them are electric articulated busses.