In the monthly issue of Kamioni magazine (for the months of July – August 2023) an article was published by the company Chariot Motors, looking at the advantages of fast-charging ultracapacitor (UC) technology in electric buses used in sustainable urban transport today.
Some of the technology’s advantages include:
- The duration of UC charging is several minutes. It is carried out by charging stations with a power of the order of 400-500 kW, which, depending on the available network, are supplied with direct or alternating current.
- One of the great advantages of electric buses with UC is that, using fast charging stations located at final stops, they can run for 24 hours, since charging each one takes 5-8 minutes, as well as the mandatory rest of the driver.
- The sequential charging of UC e-buses allows for a relatively constant load on the electrical grid during their working hours.
- Years of operation confirm that the UC is the best technology in terms of safety. UCs do not ignite or explode in accidents, making them very safe.
- The limit on the number of charging cycles for UCs is negligible compared to that of batteries. The AOWEI supercapacitor comes with a 10-year warranty, a level unattainable for batteries that have half the factory warranty.
In the article, the company’s technical director, Mr. Ilko Ivanov, answers the question: Why are fast-charging UC electric buses more suitable for the city of Sofia?
” In small cities with a relatively light transport task, preferences tend towards the slow-charging BEV technology. In Sofia, with its busy transport scheme, the fast-charging technology with UC is preferred due to the available prerequisites for easy integration of charging stations. The charging of UC electric buses is calculated in their operating cycle, at stations located where drivers rest. Built at the time far-sightedly, with a large reserve, the structure of the metropolitan electric network for trams and trolleybuses copes with the heavy load during the rapid charging of UC electric buses. The fast-charging stations in Sofia have sufficient power, using directly from the RS (rectifier stations) direct current with a voltage of 650 V DC, which is used to power the contact network for the trolleybus and tram lines.
For comparison, during the night slow charging of 100 BEV electric buses for the next day’s journey, with each of them drawing 40 kW, one power plant must be operating. Building and fitting such new infrastructure into city centres is expensive and difficult.”
At Chariot Motors, we take pride in:
- The fact that we know the UC fast charging technology best in Europe and have sold over 70 UC electric buses in big European cities, as well as numerous pilot projects.
- The charging structure we use is entirely developed and manufactured in Bulgaria.
Read the full article on the advantages of Chariot’s fast-charging UC technology and electric buses.
