Charging system analysis, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions of battery electric buses in Beijing

Bus rides have become a routine choice for the large population to travel in Beijing. By the end of November 2020, 82.84% of all buses in Beijing had switched to electric vehicles. A solution to the problem of charging a huge number of battery electric buses (BEBs) in urban areas, especially in crowded cities with large populations, has to be found. In the present paper, a calculation model based on the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is established for comparison and analysis of the BEB charging. The calculation results show that the hybrid charging mode is economically feasible. Moreover, from the perspectives of optimizing operation shifts and responding to emergency situations, hybrid charging mode is applicable to the current electric bus system. The calculation results also show that the use of BEBs as the main ground public transportation in Beijing can substantially reduce CO2 emissions and save huge fuel costs. Its application is a very wise choice. The analogy calculation on Tongzhou District, the sub center of Beijing which is under construction, shows that the use of BEBs in Tongzhou can reduce CO2 emissions by about 34.6% on average compared with fuel buses. The population is the main influencing factor of analogy calculation.

Automated summary

The research focuses on the economic and feasibility of using electric buses in Beijing, suggesting that the hybrid charging mode is an effective solution that can reduce CO2 emissions and save costs, as well as applicable for emergency situations and optimizing operations.