USA: Kiepe Electric installs overhead charging for e-buses
Kiepe Electric, a subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse, is equipping an additional 15 electric buses in Dayton, Ohio with its in-motion charging technology IMC. It enables buses to charge through overhead lines while driving and to simply switch to battery power when driving in areas without powerlines.
The German company’s client is the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA). The electric buses will be assembled at the Kiepe Electric plant in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is also where Kiepe Electric will build the drive components, enabling it to meet the high localisation requirements of the US-American vehicle market. In North America alone, Kiepe Electric has now produced electric drives for 800 electric buses.
“The technology extends the operating radius of the electric buses enormously,” says Dr Heiko Asum, Managing Director of Kiepe Electric. Without having to plan breaks for recharging, operators could use the system for uninterrupted 24-hour operation.
In Dayton, Ohio there is a long tradition of electrification: the municipality has been using electric passenger transport since 1888, making it the American city with the longest uninterrupted electric vehicle operation, they say. Electrically powered buses have been on the road in Dayton since 1933.
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