Four new battery buses from Carrosserie Hess AG operate line 5 of the Regionale Verkehrsbetriebe Baden-Wettingen (RVBW) in the Swiss canton of Aargau 100% electric by since 17 June 2021. Hess supplied the four “lighTram® 12 OPP” 12-metre-long buses – they were built entirely at Hess‘ main production plant in Bellach. ABB supplied the electric drive with energy storage and the charging solutions. Regionalwerke AG Baden (RWB) supply the renewable energy from regional hydropower.
The buses are charged in 2 to 4 minutes during normal operation at the termini via inverted pantographs on charging poles with 300 kW power, as so-called “opportunity charging”. Complete charging takes place overnight at the depot by means of two HVC 100 charging stations, supplied by ABB, each with two charging boxes. They sequentially charge the buses with a power of 100 kW.
By 2030, the RVBW plans to completely convert to electric buses.
