As of: February 2, 2024, 5:59 a.m
By: Anna-Lena Kiegerl
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In Norway, electric bus failures are sparking a big debate.
It is said that the winter weather was responsible for “traffic chaos”.
Oslo – Public transport in Oslo appears to have struggled with severe problems in recent weeks.
At least that's what you might think, according to some reports.
Accordingly, the e-buses used in Oslo are said to have significantly shorter ranges, especially due to the cold, which is said to have led to breakdowns.
But how bad is the cold really for electric buses?
Do these even make sense for a cold country like Norway?
Alleged traffic chaos in Norway due to e-buses: How many were really canceled?
Euronews.com
contacted the company operating the e-buses directly for a fact check on the topic.
Ruter made the actual extent of the problems clear in a statement.
The company describes the statements as: “An extreme exaggeration, we canceled on average between 50 and 100 departures out of more than 4,000 daily departures for a few days.” But the weather actually had its consequences.
Ruter explains that there were: “Problems with the reduced range of the buses in cold weather, which we solved by changing the charging shifts.
And also by repairing the infrastructure.” However, the electric buses were now running normally again.
Electric cars, buses, etc. – Why are there problems in the cold?
Many people consider electric cars to be the future, even though the industry is currently not doing well.
However, owners of electric cars will probably have been familiar with the problem with the cold for a long time.
Because in winter temperatures, the vehicle's consumption increases significantly.
In addition to the interior, the battery, which is installed in the vehicle floor, also needs to be heated vigorously.
Because it feels particularly comfortable at temperatures between 20 and 40 degrees.
A lot of energy is required to bring it to the desired temperature at the start of a journey.
This reduces the range.
(Source:
ADAC
)
Lower range of e-buses in cold weather: charging cables are also crucial in the event of failures
The press spokeswoman explained it similarly
by Ruter, Cathrine Myhren-Haugen, opposite the Norwegian site
elbil.no
.
Accordingly, the shorter range of the buses can be compensated for: “In cold weather, the range of the buses is reduced, but the bus operators now compensate for this by adjusting the timetables for the trips and fees.
The first hard cold snaps are giving operators new insight into how much these plans need to be adjusted.” Myhren-Haugen also emphasized that defective chargers were responsible for a large proportion of the outages.
However, these have now been upgraded and are working again.
The cold reduced the range of some electric buses in Norway.
(Symbolic image) © Imago/Antonio Perez
Anna Stephanopoulous, a professor of mechanical engineering and battery expert at the University of Michigan, told
euronews.de
how transport companies can deal with the problem of cold in electric drives.
“This means that the buses must remain plugged in as early as possible, perhaps even a few hours before departure, to recharge and, if possible, remain plugged in overnight when it is cold to ensure thermal management of the battery is active and the battery temperature is kept above freezing in regions.” Only then can the battery start and the vehicle work with this maximum range.
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Cold is an important factor when operating e-buses: “You just have to plan tours differently in winter.”
Mukhtar Ahmad, a bus driver in Oslo, explained it similarly to
Spiegel
.
“You just have to plan the tours differently in winter and set up more charging stations.
Then it works.” According to these reports, the operating company Ruter has now added another measure to increase the range of the buses: the interior temperature has been reduced from the previous 18 to 13 degrees.
However, Ahmad doesn't think much of it.
The bus drivers insist on the previous 18 degrees.
“The technology has to adapt to us and not the other way around,” he explains.
By the way: subways and trains were also canceled due to the low temperatures.
Weather-related failures are not only recorded in Norway and not only with e-buses.
In Germany, numerous public transport services were canceled in December 2023 due to snow chaos.