In 2016 three electric buses strengthen the ÜSTRA bus fleet for test purposes. For the present, they will run on the lines 100 and 200. This pilot project aims to provide insight into how an economically and ecologically sensible contribution can be made in order to reduce the transport emissions by electrification of bus traffic.
The bus lines 100 and 200 have only one terminal stop (August-Holweg-Platz). The distances between stops on line 100 and 200 are short and the route takes you a little way through Hanovers city centre. For these reasons, these two lines offer the optimum proving ground for electric buses.
The electric buses are being supplied with CO2-free power from the overhead line system of the city trams. At night, the buses should be pre- charged at the bus depot and recharged at the terminal stop of the lines 100 and 200. The loop lines 100 and 200 are approx. 16 km long. This requires approx. 25 kWh (summer) and up to 40 kWh (winter) of power in order to complete the entire route one time; the bus battery stores 125 kWh. The charging time is about 6 minutes.
Within the scope of a Europewide tender, the Polish company Solaris was entrusted with the production of the electric buses. Specialist supervision and financial support is provided by the Region Hannover and the enercity Contracting GmbH.