VDV-Recommendation No. 261: Recommendations on Connection of a Dispositive Backend to an Electric Bus, Complementary to ISO Standard 15118 [PDF]

Edition 05/2023

With this recommendation, the VDV committee on Motoring provides assistance for the connection of a

dispatching backend to an electric bus.

The first publication of VDV recommendation 261 was intended to help transport companies, bus

manufacturers and providers of software solutions to develop uniform communication between electric buses

and various backends e.g., depot management systems. As part of the international standardization process,

communication between the vehicle and the charging station has been extensively addressed. The ISO

standard 15118, ED. 1 could now be considered the established standard. However, it became apparent that

the requirements arising from an electric urban bus service were not fully addressed. In particular, the

communication content of a system that dispatches vehicles and prepares them for the next departure, e.g.,

activates preconditioning, was not described. Efforts to expand the standard were made before ED. 1 of this

framework recommendation were considered to be clearly too lengthy to establish a standard in a timely

manner and to avoid proprietary solutions.

With the present Edition 2 of VDV recommendation 261, the main objective of demonstrating an additional

connection of an electric bus with a dispositive backend, taking into account a charging communication

according to ISO 15118, ED. 1 has been further pursued to show an additional connection of an electric bus

with a dispositive backend. The basic communication path has been retained, the scope of parameters has

been extended and the content has been revised.