€2m funding for trolleybuses of the future (Trolley:Motion)

Oliver Luksic, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, today handed over a funding commitment of over 2 million euros to the LibroDuct AAO consortium. The research team is working on battery-operated trolleybuses that can connect and disconnect wires fully automatically while driving and can therefore also be used on sections without overhead lines.

Saarbrücken, September 12, 2023. LibroDuct GmbH & Co. KG (consortium leader), DIaLOGIKa GmbH and the Bergische Universität Wuppertal are jointly researching the flexible connection of battery and trolleybus in order to combine the advantages of both technologies even better.

The e-buses charge their batteries when traveling on the overhead line so that they can travel on sections of the line without overhead lines. The fully automatic connection and disconnection of wires while driving simplifies the overhead line structure considerably: intersections and junctions can be kept free of overhead lines, while opposing lanes only require one overhead line. This means that the buses can be used much more flexibly than classic trolleybuses. Sections of route with little traffic on the outskirts of town can be served without the costly construction of overhead lines and construction sites can also be avoided without any problems. Conversely, areas that are particularly valuable in terms of urban development, such as historical squares, can also be built without visually disturbing overhead lines.

Oliver Luksic: “Libroduct enables more flexibility in the use of trolleybuses and at the same time saves significantly on setting up the associated infrastructure. This creates completely new options for the electrification of urban bus transport. We need such innovations and are supporting them with over 2 million euros. Only by researching and developing new technologies, vehicle components, system solutions or services can we strengthen German competitiveness.”

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The BMDV is funding the project with 2,063,584 euros as part of the “Electromobility Funding Guideline”. Funding for this measure is provided as part of the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP) via the European Recovery and Resilience Facilities (ARF). The funding guidelines are coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by the Project Management Jülich (PtJ). The project runs until June 2026.

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