Engineering solution provider for fast and ultra-fast e-bus charging solutions and system integrator for many bus manufacturers, Furrer+Frey displayed its opportunity charging solutions for Volvo electric bus at the show.
Talking to MOTORINDIA, Roger Bedell, Senior Consultant, Charging Systems, Furrer+Frey, said: “We specialize in opp charging and depot charging. It is all from the roof and not horizontal with plug-ins, which is not a good idea when upgraded options are available. We did the up charge as it is light-weight and has no moving parts on the bus. When you have the pantograph on the bus and if you hit a pothole you end up shaking it a lot. With the Oppcharge, you can service up to 8 buses with one charger and it can run 24×7 taking power directly from the power transformer.”
Headquartered in Switzerland, the company has worked with Volvo since their first electric bus in 2012. “We did the original charging station for Volvo’s first electric bus that has improved a lot over the years. We also specialize in depot solutions. In the past, our company has undertaken a lot of railway projects and we have carried out a lot of work on rail depots. All the chargers require a lot of space; we can help figure out what is needed to make best use of the space. In depots, we can have down pantograph, overhead-up pantograph and also a cable coming down for plug in. We have worked quite a bit for the Delhi Metro overhead wires/lines and have good partners in India,” shared Beat Winterflood, Senior Consultant, Charging Systems, Furrer+Frey.
Clearly, the top-down pantograph has several advantages like low cost and weight on the bus, no moving parts on the vehicle, high power transfer with short charging time, automatic connection and disconnection, high levels of safety, no manual handling of plugs and cables and thus makes for a sound business case for ultra-fast e-bus charging.