World premiere at Busworld: the innovative electric bus from the consortium of Van Hool - Kiepe Electric - Alstom for Île-de-France Mobilités

Alexander Ketterl, Managing Director of Kiepe Electric: “This project is for the market and for us a milestone in the transformation to e-mobility. Together with the experienced consortium partners Van Hool and Alstom and with our customer Île-de-France Mobilités, we were able to create one of the most modern electric buses. Using our Kiepe system expertise, we designed the entire electric system of the bus and specified and integrated our own and third-party components for the project. This meets an important customer requirement: potential 24/7 operation with the shortest downtime when charging the batteries.”

Christoph Wede, Director Global Sales E-Mobility and Business Development at Kiepe Electric: “We offer OEMs a manufacturer-independent platform concept to realize battery-powered electric buses in partnership. This allows transport companies to efficiently replace their diesel buses. Île-de-France Mobilités is consistently pushing forward sustainable mobility and it is great that we can repay the trust placed in us in the groundbreaking Tzen project.”

Modular platform concept for battery-electric buses from Kiepe Electric

The 100% electric Exqui.City 24 articulated bus from Van Hool includes a new system solution from Kiepe Electric for the electrification of new bus vehicles. The manufacturer-independent, standardized and modular platform concept for battery-electric buses – called eBus HPC (High Power Charging) – was developed for standard sizes in public transport (12, 18, 24 meters). The bus is charged via Alstom's conductive static ground charging system (SRS), which is coupled to an on-board power system from Kiepe Electric. The bus equipment is geared towards safety and modern passenger comfort (including air conditioning, information systems, accessibility). 24 meters long, the new electric bus has a capacity for up to 140 passengers. 30 new buses, to be delivered from the end of 2023, are scheduled to serve the Tzen 4 line with over 40,000 passengers daily in 2024 (Viry-Chatillon and Corbeil-Essonnes) and will be used on the Tzen 5 line between Paris and Choisy-le-Roi. A further 26 more buses are to be ordered subsequently.

System know-how and short loading times are convincing

Kiepe Electric's expertise in system integration improves the performance of the bus. The optimal interaction of the technologies in the system network results in a significantly increased charging capacity of up to 800 kilowatts. This leads to a very short recharging time and thus higher vehicle availability. Alexander Ketterl explains this: “Kiepe Electric relies on low battery capacity when designing the system. The necessary range, including extensive reserves, can be achieved with short charging cycles of 5 minutes." Ketterl underlines the innovative character: "The solution conserves natural resources and raw materials for batteries and at the same time reduces specific energy consumption due to its lower weight. As a result, more passengers can be transported and the vehicle’s CO2 footprint improves.”

Kiepe Electric GmbH has the entire electrification value chain under one roof. Starting from system design and integration, development, production, testing & validation through to full service and obsolescence management. In the electric Exqui.City 24 articulated bus from Van Hool, Kiepe Electric has integrated the complete electric drive concept for two driven axles, including traction batteries, including the heart of the traction, the new and multifunctional Kiepe Traction Inverter (KTI) . Auxiliary consumer converters and cooling systems are also included in the scope of delivery, as is the power distribution unit (high-voltage distribution). There is also the vehicle software for energy management and drive control. A cloud-based data application consisting of consumption, route and performance parameters depending on the day and season strengthens operational safety. The AI-based Smart Fleet Management (SFM) collects the operating data. The SFM ensures the highest possible circulation safety because the system knows or covers the necessary electricity charging requirements based on route information learned. In addition, SFM supports battery-friendly charging, which has a positive effect on the lifespan of the batteries. Because SFM transfers all recorded (charging) information to a cloud, buses also benefit from the data on routes they have not previously traveled. Kiepe Fleet Management (KFM) in turn transmits the data to the transport company's base station.