International technology and bus transmission group, Voith and vehicle conversion firm To Zero Electric Vehicles have been commissioned by longstanding German bus company Scharf to retrofit battery-electric drive to a diesel tour buses, which the company says marks the next milestone on the road to more sustainable bus transport.
Previously this has been the province of the public transport realm, but now Voith has ushered this into the tour bus sector.
The company says the retrofit project is one of the first of its kind in Germany. and that To Zero took charge of the technical planning and the conversion, while Voith contributed its innovative Voith Electrical Drive System (VEDS).
The company reckons that the VEDS is already being used successfully in many new electric vehicles and has won several awards in Europe for its efficiency and sustainability.
In the retrofit it says that the VEDS replaces the previous diesel engine and gear box.
Specifically, this is a powerful electric drive with an advance design that is specially tailored to the requirements of tour coaches and fits seamlessly into the existing vehicle architecture.
The company claims the electric motor achieves a peak output of approx. 557 horsepower and delivers more power than the original combustion engine.
The company says that the power is available instantaneously over the entire speed range, ensuring fast acceleration and safe overtaking on the freeway.
Vice president of sales EMEA for Voith, Holger Seefelder said that in addition, its VEDS is distinguished by its high efficiency and reliability.
“These are all properties that have already been proven in other retrofit projectsand in fact just recently this has occurred at the Transdev Group in Schwäbisch Hall,” explained Seefelder.
The company says that the battery technology is the second crucial component for a successful retrofit.
The converted bus uses a battery pack with a total capacity of 420 kWh, which is a huge battery storage volume, that allows a very long range.
The company says the battery system consists of several modules installed in the vehicle where the diesel drive train and peripherals were previously located. it says that one part of the battery units migrates to the former engine bay at the rear, while another uses some sections of the luggage compartment.
“We have optimized the battery pack so that it does not interfere with the passenger space or drastically reduce the volume of luggage that can be carried. This means that the seating and payload remain almost completely intact,” said the CEO and founder of To Zero, Michael Pfeffer .
The company claims another important aspect is the existing assistance and safety systems of the TZ-S eCoach electric bus, including ABS, lane keep assistant and emergency braking, along with turning assistants. The company says all these systems remain fully functional after the retrofit.
The company says the converted tour coach continues to meet all statutory provisions, as well as offering accustomed levels of passenger comfort, and sufficient range for everyday travel.
“The retrofit offers many other sustainability and economic benefits compared with buying a new vehicle. such as conserving valuable resources, saving investment costs, and avoiding the problem of availability and long delivery times,” said Martin and Andreas Scharf, the owners and managing directors of Scharf Reisen.
Voith said this makes a significant contribution to meeting the strict provisions of the Clean Vehicles Directive (CVD) and German climate targets in the transport sector,”
