The TOSA concept and test bus is a full large capacity urban

battery electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. In 2018, the National Renewable Energy Laborato ...

system built by

Carrosserie Hess Carrosserie HESS AG is a bus, trolleybus and commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Bellach, Switzerland. Their products can be found operating in several countries, including the United States and Canada. History The company was founded in 1 ...

and developed together with ABB Sécheron, a subsidiary of

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...

Aim of the concept and project

The aim is to provide a zero local emission mass public transportation bus system with high passenger capacity and no overhead line. The concept supports same operating timetable and frequency as line operated with diesel buses, trolleybuses and operating conditions of

Bus Rapid Transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

systems. The following aspects have been considered to comply with a sustainable mobility approach: * Minimise use of raw material throughout the life cycle:

lithium-titanate battery The lithium-titanate or lithium-titanium-oxide (LTO) battery is a type of rechargeable battery which has the advantage of being faster to charge than other lithium-ion batteries but the disadvantage of having a much lower energy density. Uses T ...

technology has been selected accordingly. * Energy efficiency: High passenger capacity, low vehicle weight (small battery), conductive energy transfer and grid connection with peak shaving. * Safety and health: Low emission of radiation

Non-ionizing radiation Non-ionizing (or non-ionising) radiation refers to any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not carry enough energy per quantum (photon energy) to ionize atoms or molecules—that is, to completely remove an electron from an atom or mole ...

during energy transfer at bus stops (conductive connection) and battery technology; zero local emission of particles; low noise; small visual impact.

Origin of name

TOSA stands for Transports Publics Genevois, Office de la Promotion Industrielle,

Services Industriels de Genève Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

and

, the four partners of the demonstrator project TOSA2013

The technical concept

The energy is collected along the route at some dedicated bus stops (every 3rd or 4th bus stops) while people are disembarking and embarking. Thus, there is no impact on the timetable. The automatic electric connection is made from the top within 1 second while the bus is stopped at the bus stop. Then charging is made at high power (400 kW on the demonstrator) during the 15 seconds the door remains open. At the terminal, the battery is topped up within 3–4 minutes.

The infrastructure

According to the line profile (total length and altitude) and service (frequency), the Flash Feeding Station (FFS) are distributed along the line at some (each 3rd or 4th bus stops - roughly 1.5–2 km) intermediate bus stops. At each end of the line, the recharge is performed by the Terminal Feeding Station (TFS). * FFS: The Flash Feeding sub-Stations are provided with energy storage to shave the peak of power on the grid required to charge the bus at the intermediate bus stops. As power is limited by the energy storage, the sub-station is connection to the low voltage grid. * TFS: The Terminal Feeding Sub-Stations is used to charge the bus at the terminal. * DFS: The Depot Feeding Sub-Stations are used to compensate the energy required by the bus from Depot to the line of service

Demonstrator (Proof-of-Concept)

The demonstrator (one articulated bus, one Flash charging station and one terminal station) is in service since May 26, 2013 between

Geneva Airport Geneva Airport ,, german: Flughafen Genf, it, Aeroporto di Ginevra, rm, Eroport de Genevra formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport, is the international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. I ...

and

Palexpo Palexpo is a convention center in Geneva, Switzerland. The buildings are owned by the canton of Geneva while the company is a semi-private foundation. The center is located close to Geneva International Airport. There are seven halls, and 102,000 ...

. It includes: * one articulated bus of 18.7meters-long and homologation for 133 passengers. The bus manufacturer is the company HESS * one TFS of 200 kW at the Geneva Air Partners * Bus operator
tpg
* Project coordinator
OPI
* Energy supplier
SIG
* Technology provider
ABB
Other partners * Bus manufacturer
HESS
* Architecture design
hepia
* Engineering Software
epflHE-Arc
* Financing
Canton of Geneva
* Land
PALEXPO

External links

Photographs of TOSA during UITP 2013

TOSA2013 Project in Geneva
*

TOSA Flash Mobility, Clean City, Smart BusTOSA2013
The project aims to introduce a new system of mass transport with electric “flash” recharging of the buses at selected stops (overhead conductive charging)
Video - Flash charging an electric bus in 15 seconds

Video - OFEN Des bus électriques rechargeables en 15 secondes (French)

Bus Technical Data (French)

D’ici trois ans, les bus TOSA rouleront sur la ligne 23 (French)

References

{{bus rapid transit Battery electric buses Articulated buses Buses by type