Performance Evaluation of Short Range Frequent Charging Electric Bus 'WEB-3' over Long-Term Operation

A long-term operation test of electric buses on public roads was performed in Nagano as part of a project of the Japan Ministry of the Environment from 2011 to 2014. For this project the short-range frequent- charging type electric buses, "Waseda Electric Buses (WEBs)" were developed. WEB-3, one of the test vehicles, was driven for 41,724 km without any major problems and had advantages to reduce 28-42% of CO2 emissions and 57-64% of energy costs, compared to conventional diesel buses. The battery performance deterioration is also confirmed to be predictable, therefore two suitable strategies is advised for expanding battery lifetime.