ZeEUS – Zero Emission Urban Bus System

1.   ZeEUS , Zero Emission urban Bus System Project

Testing electrification solutions at the heart of the urban bus system network through live demonstrations and facilitating the market uptake of electric buses in Europe. ZeEUS, the Zero Emission Urban Bus System, is going to be the flagship EU project to extend the fully-electric solution to the core part of the urban bus network. Launched by the European Commission in the frame of European Green Vehicle and Smart Cities & Communities Initiative, it follows on recommendations from fellow European bus system projects led by UITP [EBSF and 3iBS] to apply the electric solution to urban bus systems.

The project fits within the context of the European Commission’s objective to create a competitive and sustainable transport system by deploying alternative fuels, to reduce transport emissions and to improve air quality and noise levels in urban areas. To achieve its mission, ZeEUS will test a wide range of different innovative electric bus technologies and charging infrastructure solutions in 8 demonstration sites across 6 European countries with varying operational conditions to validate their economic, environmental and social viability.

The ZeEUS consortium is comprised of the entire stakeholder spectrum that represents all of the key actors and decision-makers categories who will facilitate the process of extending the electric solution to the core urban bus network. The 40 partners represent Public Transport Authorities, Public Transport Operators, Industry and Vehicle Manufacturers, Energy Providers, Universities and Research Centres, Engineering Firms, Consultancies and Associations.

Key objectives of the project are:

• Provide decision makers with Guidelines and Tools to support decision makers on “if”, “how” and “when” to introduce electric buses in the core bus network 
• Evaluate the economic, environmental and societal feasibility of electric urban bus systems through demonstrations 
•  Facilitate the market uptake of electric buses in Europe with dedicated support tools and actions

While the interest about electromobility is growing, new technologies will develop and a larger number of electric buses will circulate in our cities in the coming years. For this reason, in addition to the ZeEUS Core Demonstrations, the project will closely follow the development of electric bus systems all around the world through the ZeEUS Observatory.

The aim of the ZeEUS Demonstration is to show the capability of electric bus systems to fulfil the mobility needs of citizens in an urban environment.

The ZeEUS Demonstration project focuses on high capacity buses (12 meters and more), plug-in hybrid, full-electric and battery trolleys.

2.   Call for a New ZeEUS Core Demonstration

In the frame of the ZeEUS project, the Project Coordinator UITP and the European Commission have decided to open an exceptional Call for a new Core Demonstration.

Candidate cities shall have already started a process to demonstrate the economic, environmental and feasibility of electric urban bus systems through a live operational demonstration combining technologies for electric vehicles and infrastructure.

The new core demonstration will be integrated in the whole Core Demonstrations set and therefore shall accept the ZeEUS rules in terms of deliverables production and data provision.

Please note the tight deadline for submission is imposed by the length of the administrative process required to include the selected demo in the ZeEUS project.

3.   Requirements for the Selection of new Core Demonstration

The following requirements have been identified with the European Commission and are really important. Please note that the below requirements are cumulative criteria for evaluating your proposal.

• Main requirement: The electric buses shall be in full operation and data collection shall start within 2015
• Required vehicle size is of minimum 12 metres solo full capacity e-buses
• The Demonstration shall not use prototype vehicles, but series or pre-series products
• Vehicles shall operate in real operative services with passengers, and are already permitted for such a service
• The Demonstration shall be performed in an urban / peri-urban scenario
• The number of buses shall be enough to perform meaningful and statistically valid evaluation of the real impact of the electric solution on the operations. Such number cannot be lower than 4 buses.
• The proposal shall involve all the stakeholders of the urban eco-mobility value-chain with at least - but not limited to: Public Transport Authority, Public Transport Operator, Bus Manufacturer, Electricity Provider(s).
• The commitment of all the relevant stakeholders shall be ensured
• The Demonstration shall involve a Research entity and shall follow the ZeEUS defined methodology for data collection and evaluation: partners shall provide all data requested by the evaluation team (the confidentiality outside the consortium will be ensured).
• An important aspect of the Demonstration shall be on the interaction between the vehicles and the grids, including an assessment of the infrastructure optimisation
• Eligibility for funding shall follow the 7th Framework Programme rules
• EU and national applicable laws have to be followed, in particular for depreciation of equipment
• The Demonstration shall be included in the global and local dissemination strategy of the ZeEUS project
• The ZeEUS project shall respect a geographical and technical balance in-between its different Core Demonstrations. More information on ZeEUS Core Demonstrations can be found here: ZeEUS Core Demonstrations
• Liaison with other projects, initiatives and communities active in the frame of e-mobility can be an asset
• Only fully filled-in applications respecting all the above criteria and using the application template available for download will be considered 

If your proposal ticks all the above criteria and you wish to apply, please fill in the application form avaialble for download (Word template below), respecting the guidelines and send your full application to umberto.guida@uitp.org within Thursday 26th March at midnight.