Key commitments outlined in the COP-22 declaration include electrification of new buses by 2025. However, only 2% of the global stock of 10.4 million buses and coaches were full electric in 2018. Many cities are launching battery electric buses to reduce the emissions caused by public transport fleets. A wide spectrum of charging technologies and operational schemes have been developed as a solution to decarbonize bus systems. Depending on the charging scheme chosen, different impacts on the operating costs, public space consumption and emissions are expected along the vehicle’s lifetime. This poses problems for cities.

The aim of this project is to develop a decision support system (DSS) that designs the optimal charging system for a given city and quantifies the impact of the electric service on bus agencies and other stakeholders. The project is focused on the link between vehicle and charger, the cornerstone for their deployment in cities. eULTIMATE will present a vendor-agnostic DST to transit operators, cities and national/European associations, to allow them undertaking fleet renewal.

The e-ULTIMATE project will accelerate transition towards sustainable urban mobility, and on the other hand, improve competitiveness of European cities in the mobility sector. Regarding economic impacts, the project is expected to decrease operational costs of electric buses and to facilitate bus fleet management. Exchange between project partners will lead to predictable and data-driven decision-making methods, as well as models to identify and manage the best cost-efficient solutions under different conditions. e-ULTIMATE will provide tools to cities and operators to overcome obstacles and barriers regarding electrification of transport services (bus charging, battery range, continuous technological evolution, etc.).

The spread of electric bus services in European cities will contribute to some key social impacts such as reduction of air pollutant emissions, noise levels and GHG emissions. Besides that, another expected social impact will be the capacity building in the field of electric mobility amongst the public transport company employees and potential of further professional development by means of training activities derived from the project.