Transport company with a vision

V?lklinger Verkehrsbetriebe rely on additional modules of the integrated INIT electromobility suite

Although they are the smallest municipal transport company in the German Federal State of Saarland, VVB V?lklinger Verkehrsbetriebe GmbH (VVB) are resolutely pushing ahead with the introduction of electromobility. Since the start of their e-mobility project, they have benefited from the advantages of the INIT Group’s modular solution: all their planning, dispatching and charge management processes rely on INIT systems to maximise their efficiency.

V?lklinger Verkehrsbetriebe were the first transport company in Saarland to start introducing electromobility back in 2021 with the purchase of two electric buses. By the end of 2024, a total of 13 e-buses will be in operation, followed by eight more in 2025. By 2031 at the latest, the only buses on the roads in V?lklingen will be e-buses. This will make VVB the first completely emission-free transport company in Saarland and allow them to save around 1,000 tonnes of climate-damaging CO? every year.

Successful introduction of e-mobility with simulations

VVB have been using eMOBILE-PLAN from INIT subsidiary INIT Mobility Software Solutions for several years to plan the blocks for their diesel buses and now also for their electric buses. But even before the first e-buses were purchased, their deployment was simulated with the help of eMOBILE-PLAN: Which blocks are suitable for e-buses with their limited range? What are the consequences for personnel requirements? The simulations showed that the e-buses could be used without any problems even on the largest blocks and that no additional staff was required. Thanks to the simulations, the planned charging concept also proved feasible: VVB decided from the outset to charge exclusively at the depot, which was necessary because of the lack of possible locations for charging points on the route.

The simulations in eMOBILE-PLAN also provided important insights during further introductory phases: for example, they showed that the connected load would no longer be sufficient for the next expansion of the e-bus fleet. This means that it will no longer be possible to start charging all the e-buses at the same time.

Charge and depot management for optimized processes in the depot

With the next e-bus expansion at the latest, it will be necessary to manage the charging processes. For this task, VVB rely on another INIT Group solution: the charge management system from INIT subsidiary CarMedialab GmbH , which is currently in the final implementation phase. It not only ensures that charging processes do not exceed the connected load, but can also save on electricity costs: In this process, known as peak shaving, MOBILEcharge starts the charging processes with a lower capacity and distributes them over the entire available period, reducing the peak power, which is the determining factor for the electricity price.

In order to optimize the dispatching of both electric buses and the remaining diesel buses, VVB use the eMOBILE-DMS depot management system, which is also about to go live. The two systems interact seamlessly and constantly exchange data. The depot management system allocates buses to the charging points with the appropriate charging capacity and also takes into account planned pull-outs and the minimum charge level required for the next block. This is where eMOBILE-PLAN comes in again: the depot management system receives information about the required energy from eMOBILE-PLAN. Thanks to INIT’s comprehensive solution, seamless and efficient communication between the three systems is guaranteed at all times. This is particularly advantageous in the event of a fault: if a charging process is cancelled, for example, eMOBILE-DMS receives this information immediately and automatically assigns a new vehicle to the intended block.

V?lklinger Verkehrsbetriebe now have an integrated solution with which they can not only successfully master all the introductory phases of electromobility, but also efficiently and economically control vehicle dispatching, block building and charge management.