On Feasibility of Ultracapacitor Full Electric Transit Bus for Jakarta, Indonesia

Electric vehicles (EVs) and its technology, including the EVs storage system are getting the attention in the last decade. So far, batteries have been the most common storage type for EVs. However, several storage technology alternatives are being considered recently, including ultracapacitors (UCs). One prominent characteristic of UC is its high power density –can be up to hundreds times of Li-ion power density– enabling it to be charged or discharged with high power. On the other hand, UC has lower energy density, causing EVs with UCs as sole energy will not have long range. Thus, in electric cars, UCs are more common to be hybridized with batteries as complementary storage. However, as opposed to private cars, transit vehicles such as buses or trams have specific routes and stops with predefined distance. This particular characteristic of transit vehicles is potential to be fulfilled by UCs only, as the UC energy capacity is sufficient for a single route, and afterward it can be fully charged in a few minutes. This paper will present a feasibility study of a UC pure electric transit bus specific to Jakarta, Indonesia. Comparison of battery and UC system for the bus will be presented from both technical and economic aspects.