By Valentin Lebosse
Published on
In front of the “Campus” stop of Mont-Saint-Aignan (Seine-Maritime), near Rouens, the 18 tons long red bus tear themselves off the asphalt with a slight hiss specific to vehicles electric.
Tested for a few weeks on the Tip network, this bus supplied by the Dutch manufacturer Ebusco prefigures the complete renewal of the Teor fleet.
A rolling stock to be renewed and “greened”
“In 2026, on lines T1, T2 and T3, most Teors will have reached the age limit of 16 years. It is therefore time to change what constitutes the heart of our network”, cadre Cyrille Moreau, during a press conference on Wednesday April 20, 2022.
According to the Vice-President of Métropole Rouen Normandie in charge of future mobility and active modes of transport, this imperative is coupled with “a high ambition”, that of “having greened 50% of the park (out of a total of around 400 buses, editor’s note) by the end of the current mandate”.
50% of buses with low greenhouse gas emissions
This is the objective of the Rouen Normandy Metropolis by 2026. The community is even aiming for 100% on the Teor lines.
To achieve this, the Métropole will have to train around 200 low-emission vehicles over the next 4 years. No small feat: today, only 22 electric buses are already in operation, around fifty of them joined in 2022, as well as 14 running on hydrogen on the future F7 line.
Biogas technology is also suitable for more distant connections, in rural areas.
As for buses withdrawn from service, they are part of most recycling channels. “There is not really a second-hand market for this type of vehicle, explains Cyrille Moreau. After 16 years of operation, the Teors have reached 800,000 kilometers and cannot be kept in circulation without very expensive.”
For the elected metropolitan, it is “an environmental and health issue: in Rouen, 500 people die each year from air pollution”.
We cannot both ask our fellow citizens to make the effort to change their polluting vehicle to enter the ZFE (low-emissions zone which will concern individuals from September 1, 2022, editor’s note) and we, the public authorities, continue to make circular diesel buses.
Compared to diesel, “it is estimated that one kilometer in an electric bus saves 800 grams of CO2”, indicates Jean-Francois Chiron, CEO of Ebusco France. In addition, the absence of exhaust gases reduces emissions of fine particles (harmful to health), limited to vehicle braking and tire friction on the bitumen.
“Same use as a thermal vehicle”
The electric bus currently being tested in Rouen offers 306 kilometers of autonomy. This will increase to more than 400 kilometers on vehicles which should be deployed from 2023, first on the T1 line. Enough to ensure, on paper, a full day of service, knowing that most buses in the Tip network travel between 100 and 350 kilometers per day. Jean-François Chiron affirms that “the use will be the same as that of a thermal vehicle”, with recharging at night.
Ebusco, “the Tesla of the bus”
This is how this Dutch company, barely 10 years old, is presented by its general manager in France. “We are leaders in the Netherlands and already present in 7 European countries, with contracts in Denmark, Sweden and Germany”, lists Jean-François Chiron.
The order from Métropole Rouen Normandie represents “the company’s first significant contract” in France. If demand follows on the French market, Ebusco also has “an industrial installation project” in France to produce electric vehicles there.
For now, the manufacturing takes place in the Netherlands. “All of the elements that make up our vehicles are European, with the exception of the batteries which are produced in China”, specifies Jean-François Chiron.
To verify this, the bus made available by Ebusco was subjected to a first phase of testing without a passenger but weighted with 8 tonnes of sandbags. Vehicle load, topography of routes, driving, outside temperatures, use of on-board equipment, switching on the air conditioning… Different scenarios have been designed to take into account all of these variables which affect electricity consumption and therefore the battery life.
These tests will also make it possible to “parameterize the vehicles according to the use that will be made of them here”, explains Xavier Charon, technical director of Transdev Rouen – TCAR, one of the operators of the CONSEIL network.
Travelers will be able to test it
A new test phase with passengers will begin on Thursday April 21. Users of the Teor lines could occasionally discover the interior of the test bus. The latter is in a “Dutch” configuration, warns Jean-François Chiron, with plenty of seating. The one that will be put into service in Rouen should offer the same number of seats (36) and standing places as the current Teors. New, USB sockets allow passengers to charge their mobile phone.
The main change is the absence of the characteristic roar of diesel engines. Only a few noises of air and rolling remained, as well as this engine whistle inherent to the electric ones rebel at the level of the wheels.
What reliability?
The bus is lined with sensors to collect data on its various functions. The objective being to “anticipate maintenance operations and the replacement of defective parts before the breakdown which immobilizes the vehicle”, explains the general manager of Ebusco France.
On the battery side, Jean-François Chiron promises “the most reliable and secure on the market. They do not consume fire thanks to the use of LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) technology. “At the end of their lifespan, which ranges from “8 to 10 years”, they will be taken back by their manufacturer for other uses. “In the Netherlands, they are reused on electric boats. Assembled in packs, they can also supply a data center or be used to store electricity produced by renewable energies. »
800,000 euros per bus
As virtuous as it is from an environmental point of view, electric technology remains much more expensive to purchase than a traditional diesel fuel bus: around 800,000 euros for the model tested in Rouen against 375,000 euros for its thermal equivalent.
“You also have to take into account the cost per use,” stresses Jean-François Chiron. Electric is then four times cheaper than diesel. The equation becomes favorable after 12 to 13 years of use. A threshold that seems largely achievable, given that Ebusco gives a lifespan of 18 years to its buses.
For the moment, the Rouen Normandy Metropolis has signed for four electric buses. That is an order of almost 3.5 million euros. They will be assigned by the end of 2022 to the Transport lines of the Elbeuvian Agglomeration (TAE). A purchase option on 76 others intended for the lines can be exercised if the tests in progress prove to be conclusive. The bill would then reach nearly 75.4 million euros.
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