Winter paralyzes the new electric bus fleet in Oslo
By Paul Homewood
h/t Joe Public
This report comes from Norway:
TRANSLATION
Caught cold: Winter paralyzes the new electric bus fleet in Oslo Electric bus debacle in the Norwegian capital Oslo: The cold wave has paralyzed the new, supposedly advanced electric buses. The batteries fail in winter temperatures.
In Oslo, public transport has completely collapsed. This is due to the city’s 183 new electric buses, which cannot cope with the icy cold. The transport operator confirms: The electric buses are simply not reliable enough in winter: “The range of the electric buses decreases drastically in cold weather. The batteries run out more quickly.” A total of around 140 departures were affected.
The affected lines are served by highly praised new, electric articulated buses – supposedly the future of mobility. They were only delivered around April. But already in the first winter they show their weaknesses: the 183 articulated electric buses from Solaris, equipped with a 500 kWt battery pack, fail miserably. The bitter reality: The freezing temperatures in Oslo are putting such a strain on electric buses that their range is shrinking dramatically. The promised range of over 250 kilometers is far from being achieved.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Oh dear, so much for the much vaunted EV’s?
Have heart. Nobody could have anticipated a cold winter in a warming planet.
Especially in Norway famed for its Mediterranean climate
All one can do is laugh. Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!
Me too, cracked me up!
‘This is due to the city’s 183 new electric buses’
Who buys 183 of anything without finding out if one is any good?
Years ago the LAPD had issues with their BMW i3’s-
https://insideevs.com/news/441238/los-angeles-police-fleet-bmw-i3-being-sold/
Tested one in summer?
Virtue-signalling lefties
if one is any good, then try 2 or 3 …. but then try Trolley Buses: Power lines are always to hand and much better than TRAMS. Edinburgh take note.
I recall when Phoenix bought a new fleet of German buses, and quickly discovered that they could only be used before 0600 and after 1800, because the temperatures of a Phoenix summer overloaded the air-conditioning systems in the buses, and they were uninhabitable without AC. Who could have predicted that buying buses from a country that rarely experienced temperatures over 100°F would have problems coping with an environment that would commonly see temperatures over 110°F for weeks at a time during the summer?
Who could possibly have predicted this? Every physicist and electrical engineer, but obviously not the local politicians.
It is indeed strange.
Solaris didn’t know cold was a problem? Solaris kept it a secret? Oslo public transport didn’t care? People living in Oslo don’t know that cold affects EVs? Oslo public transport chose not to get the optional battery heaters?
And how do you run the heaters – when the flattery is bad.
Norway passed legislation in 2022 that all new cars sold by 2025 should be zero emission (EV or hydrogen) as part of this public sector procurement of cars and buses had to be zero emission by 2022 and 2025 respectively.
Hydrogen took a hit when a refuelling station blew up and they had to halt hydrogen and supply other cars to those who owned hydrogen ones.
Same in Edmonton, Canada. Only 16 out 60 buses (at a million $ a bus) are working. They also need diesel powered heaters to keep the interior warm, and $200,000 blankets to warm the batteries. They still can only work part days.
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/more-than-half-of-edmontons-60-million-electric-bus-fleet-not-roadworthy
I hope they know to use winter diesel.
Winter diesel in Alberta comes out in late October until early May.
sigh……over 6 months
And bear in mind that unlike a diesel engine, a diesel heater doesn’t have a “spillback” circuit, where the small amount of fuel which doesn’t get injected is returned (and thereby warmed) to the tank. This, at least, helps to keep things going once you’ve got the damn thing started in the first place!
Dave Ward, diesel heaters ( the size of which would be required to heat a large vehicle ) do have a fuel return back to the tank, it’s only the tiny ones on camper vans and trucks that don’t.
The relationship between cold weather and battery effectiveness is well know – I thought – not just output but ability to recharge.
Norway has long, very cold Winters. Why would any sane, intelligent person opt for battery operated public transport in such a climate? I suppose the question answers itself – sane, intelligent are strangers to Net Zero: fanaticism rules all.
I refer you to the great Bob Dylan: ‘Money doesn’t talk: it swears’.
Someone in Oslo’s bus procurement dept has been sworn at an awful lot.
Well now, who with any knowledge of physics is surprised? Once again Arts graduates embarrass themselves in public (not that they will realize) and cost us money. For my sins I live in this ruddy marxists utopia.
We need more global warming to fix the bus problem, thank you China and India for using coal. You really could not make this up. Lets just state the obvious, battery electric vehicles just do not work, cold limits the range, batteries catch fire, expensive, charging facilities inadequate.
SNAFU is a term that describes the present situation…..situation normal all f*cked up.
Getting close to FUBAR now Geoff.
Plus one!
Today’s Oslo numbers: -8°C (18°F) These readings are slightly below climatic averages. But, below average numbers are expected – that’s the nature of calculating such things.
Easily found, and lack of, has been a costly mistake by the perpetrators.
Yrp, I’d wager around 50% of days and years are above average but only half are below average…
Norwich residents pray global warming will prevent a similar situation arising in their Fine City.
https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/news/2023/10/norwichs-first-electric-buses-have-hit-the-streets
Perhaps if one of them catches fire they can warm up.
Incidentally does anyone here have more info on the Bristol Airport car park fire?
I haven’t watched this, but saw it on Geoff Buys Cars
Oh the irony of one of the coldest countries on Earth going all electric to stop them frying with all this ‘global boiling’. Perhaps they could install diesel generators on the buses to keep the batteries warm :0)
One of the world’s major oil producers going all-electric…
Who wrote the spec? Was it someone incompetent?
Who did the design? Was it someone incompetent?
Who tested the buses prior to entering service? Was it someone incompetent?
Solaris is a Polish company. They knew damn well this would be a problem. They HAVE TO HAVE a document showing they warned Oslo public transport, else they have an extreme liability problem.
Auto Motor Sport has a timely report on the loss of battery range due to cold weather. What an ideal time to have this occur as you will need lights, wipes, heating etc.
There was a time when the Scandinavians could build vehicles that worked in colder weather
Oh, those pesky Winter temperatures; who’d a thunked it would get cold in Scandinavia? I thought the climate grifters, “followed the SCIENCE.” Someone needs to get them a thermometer that reads below 0 C.
Aye, and know where to stick it!
But if it is from Norway, why is it in German rather than Norwegian?
Schadenfreude?
The story is from Oslo, though the report is from Austria.
I recall excellent electric buses – they were called trolley-buses – why were they withdrawn in the UK? (though some still run on the Continent)
Because trams/trollies are rubbish. Fixed routes that cannot be changed if demand changes.
I wonder if they installed solar panels to charge the batteries?
Why no pilot scheme? Who will get sacked for this debacle?
You ask as if a pilot scheme that showed they are rubbish would have made a difference.
Ah, but the computer belonging to someone at WEF had said it was going to be warmer, so this is all down to “climate change” since then. It is also why they adopted the term instead of “global warming” – it’s still our fault.
Les Johnsons piece about Edmonton should be a wake-up call to gullible councils in the UK. Buy products like these from an unguaranteed supplier and they take the money and run, (i.e. cease trading, in the UK). It appears that councillors do not understand risk very well. I wonder how much the cities who have declared “climate emergencies” have squandered.
Is anyone surprised in the least?
The Lunatics Have Taken Charge of the Asylum!!!!