Various coach companies are not afraid of FNV’s call. Photo: iStock/acambium64
The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model for zero-emission coaches is available from this week. Bustransport Nederland (BVN) reports this. This calculation model should help the sector to reduce the emissions of buses and coaches as much as possible.
The TCO model makes it possible to quickly calculate a cost price for a battery-electric coach or a hydrogen coach and to compare it with a diesel variant. By then turning a number of ‘knobs’, such as expected lifespan, varying the size of subsidies or adjusting the level of the diesel price/energy price, the influence of this on the cost price can be determined immediately.
Purchase price “The design of the ‘TCO-Touringcar’ has been kept as simple as possible. This means that the ‘TCO-Coach’ produces substantiated calculation results based on a limited input”, says BVN about the model. “The TCO model not only looks at the purchase price of the vehicle, but at the total costs over the useful life of the vehicle, including charging infrastructure.”
Although the costs of operating coaches are the core, the model also calculates the annual emissions of pollutants. A distinction is made here between CO2, PMx and NOx. The emissions are determined ‘Well-to-Wheel’. “This means that CO2 and NOx emissions are also attributed to electric coaches that use gray electricity.”
Carlo Cahn, secretary of Bus Transport Netherlands, is pleased with the arrival of the TCO model. “The coach sector faces major challenges when it comes to making the sector greener,” he says. “Almost all entrepreneurs prefer to start the transition to zero-emission coach transport today rather than tomorrow, but for many it starts with the question: how am I going to pay for it? To help entrepreneurs answer that question, the TCO model is a great first step on the road to zero emissions.”
Air quality According to the trade association, it is important that this step is taken now, since the Rutte IV cabinet wants the Netherlands to be a leader in Europe in combating global warming. According to BVN, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced as much as possible in all sectors to achieve this goal. This also applies to the emissions from buses and coaches. According to the trade association, this objective contributes to improving air quality.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW), Bus Transport Netherlands and the municipalities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Eindhoven and Utrecht are therefore in talks to accelerate the transition to zero-emission coach transport. The calculation model, which was set up by research agency Panteia on behalf of the ministry, is one of the initiatives that resulted from it.
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