The main outcome expected from this project is a toolbox that will support a wide range of key stakeholders involved in the electrification of transport services – i.e cities, transport authorities, public transport operators, etc. – to go through the decision-making process. The e-ULTIMATE toolbox will integrate all technical features of electric buses with other key social, geographic and regulatory aspects. The goal is to provide a flexible Decision Support Tool adaptable to the different conditions and particularities from cities across Europe.

The assessment framework will consider a wide array of factors influencing the performance (technical, social and economic) of available technological solutions to configure an electrified bus service. An operational model will be incorporated into the DST to ensure that electric constraints and demand requirements are satisfied. It will consider the operation and capital cost (vehicles and facilities) to run the service, the lifetime of the batteries, user travel time, and public space consumption. This approach outperforms the tools developed by vehicle manufacturers for a single technology solution. In this sense, the project will also consider the next future evolution of chemistries, costs, and electric performances. Hence, the DST will identify the charging technology in the market that better suits the mobility requirements of the city. This analysis will even consider the option of postponing the deployment of electric vehicles if in the next future a promising charging scheme will be available in the market. The model will also help decision-makers to analyze alternative business models of charging facilities in other private services such as cleaning vehicles or heavy trucks.

The project will provide a detailed description of indicators (KPI’s) and measurement methods; that is, the translation of the objectives in KPI’s and how they will be measured. Further, we will include a full description of the models and a description of evaluation framework and guidelines for use towards each demonstration case.
Detailed description of the technologies studied for their potential in electrified bus networks,
alongside with their performance and cost trends.

A benchmark analysis will be carried out considering the charging performance of each available technology in the 13 cities involved in the project. Data gathered from these cities will allow us characterize the real performance and operating costs of different charging schemes. Hence, the DSS will identify the technology that better suits the mobility requirements in each city under study. This approach outperforms the tools developed by vehicle manufacturers for a single charging solution.