The practice and application of transport electrification

Abstract

The transportation sector is responsible for large amounts of noise- and air pollution that are harmful to both man and nature. With a growing population that will increase the need for transport and lead to growing cities, it becomes vital to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase the use of sustainable fuels in public transport. An alternative to the traditional diesel bus that is emerging is electric powered buses, which appear to be significantly more energy efficient and more environmentally friendly than their competitors. The implementation of electric buses has been ongoing at a slow pace and smaller scales, which is not enough to establish itself in today’s market and leave an impression on cities. The main reason for this seems to be its financial strain and lack of strategies for how to effectively implement the transformation to electrification of the transport system. The purpose of this work is to investigate the benefits of electric buses, how electrification of the transport system will affect the infrastructure in cities and how feasible implementation of electric buses is from an economic, technological and institutional perspective. The report is finalized with a lifecycle cost analysis of an electrified bus line. The purpose and question in the report are answered through literature studies where information is obtained from high-quality scientific articles and reports.