AACHEN, Germany, July 14, 2022—Berlin’s public transport authority BVG intends to contribute to the city’s mobility transition by switching entirely to electric buses by 2030 at the latest. And it’s determined to make the operation and charging of its electric buses safer and more reliable. With this in mind, it’s announced it will be using ACCURE Battery Intelligence during a one-year trial – and thus playing a pioneering role in the field of safety.

Each battery system continuously generates operating data and transmits it to the cloud. It’s then evaluated by ACCURE’s solution using artificial intelligence so that any risks can be anticipated. This allows BVG’s battery department to be kept abreast of the condition of its high-voltage batteries. This in turn prevents breakdowns and improves the reliability of its bus service for passengers.

Every weekday, BVG’s some 1,500 buses transport about a million people across Berlin. Consequently, as well as being important for public transport, these buses are a vital part of Berlin’s mobility transition. In the years to come, more and more buses powered by green electricity will be employed – and their lower starting noise makes them significantly quieter than their predecessors. Accure's Battery Safety analysis software will now be used on 15 buses in BVG’s electric fleet. This will enable the battery department to monitor the condition of vehicle batteries at any time by simply looking at the ACCURE dashboard and having any necessary maintenance carried out.

"The reliability and safety of electric buses are key to their acceptance by the public. Our analytics software can prevent bus breakdowns while improving safety," said Dr. Kai Philipp Kairies, CEO of ACCURE.

To do so, the software evaluates the data obtained from batteries several times a day. A traffic light system provides a quick and easy overview of all connected buses. As long as all the traffic lights are green, BVG’s buses can continue to be used without hesitation. But if this isn’t the case, the information is analyzed in more detail, and the findings are taken into consideration during maintenance.

Thanks to precise battery analysis based on operating data together with continuous safety monitoring, traditional fire safety is now supplemented by preventive precautions. As a result, ACCURE’s software automatically warns of hazardous battery performance before it becomes critical. The software can easily be integrated into any application since no additional hardware or laboratory testing is required.

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About BVG

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), Germany’s biggest public transport company, is responding to the great ecological and social challenges of future urban travel with innovative strategies and cutting-edge technology. Every year, BVG gets over a billion passengers to their destinations on time, ecologically, and affordably with its underground, tram, bus, and ferry services.