Heliox will fast charge Luxembourg's Volvo electric buses
Sales-Lentz, one of the public transport operators in Luxembourg, has ordered three Heliox Fast Charge systems for its fleet of four Volvo electric buses. The buses will be charged by what is known as opportunity charging, with fast chargers at each end of a route. To facilitate the introduction of electric bus systems, Volvo and Heliox aim to create an open interface standard between electric buses and chargers. The Heliox system can charge a bus in three to six minutes.

Sales-Lentz, one of the public transport operators in Luxembourg, has ordered three Heliox Fast Charge Systems with OppCharge open interface to provide fast charging services for its four Volvo 7900 electric buses. End of route stations will be delivered Q2 2017, with one of the systems to be located at Sales-Lentz’ depot.

The buses will be charged with opportunity charging (fast charging at end stops). To facilitate the introduction of electric bus systems in European cities, Volvo and Heliox together with several other manufacturers of buses and charging infrastructure agreed this spring to an open interface standard between electric buses and chargers.

The OppCharge conductive static charging system includes automatic connection via pantograph contact, wireless communication (WiFi), contacting plates and the infrastructure equipment that automatically contacts vehicles with the pantograph.

OppCharge offers charging power up to 450 kW; charging takes 3 to 6 minutes. The inverted pantograph enables use of a low-cost and low weight interface on roof of the bus.