Battery EMU infrastructure

[Zomboid]

Looks like BEMUs will need around 2MWh batteries, then. How much would they weigh? And cost?

(And a small diesel engine running on HVO, for emergency use only.)

Specify big enough batteries and reduce performance to conserve charge in emergency situations - don't confuse the issue with diesel.

 

[NIT100]

Looks like BEMUs will need around 2MWh batteries, then. How much would they weigh? And cost?

(And a small diesel engine running on HVO, for emergency use only.)

For 2MWh weight would be about 13.5t using LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries, based on 150Wh/kg. Less if using NMC type batteries.

Cost for LFP is about $60/kWh currently, so looking at about £90,000 based on $1 = £0.75. Probably more than 2MWh would be needed for a 4-Car BEMU, but not unachievable.

Examples from the past in Germany.

Wittfeld accumulator railcars, 1st Series built in 1907 had a range of 100km, 4th Series had 160km by 1915.

DB ETA 176 built from 1952 had a range of 400km.

Obviously very little ancillary loads like HVAC in these units, but they also didn't have regen braking and used lead acid batteries.

 

[Class 317]

Future electrification strategies need to take account of BEMU capabilities in terms of offering the best BCR.

Schemes designed to allow large areas to go over to BEMU'S alongside mainlines going fully electric will have much better BCR than mainlines alone.

Consider the ECML electrification scheme if it was done today but allowed the many local and interregional routes to go over to BEMU'S offering faster acceleration and lower costs than the BCR would have been much higher.

 

[zwk500]

Future electrification strategies need to take account of BEMU capabilities in terms of offering the best BCR.

Schemes designed to allow large areas to go over to BEMU'S alongside mainlines going fully electric will have much better BCR than mainlines alone.

Consider the ECML electrification scheme if it was done today but allowed the many local and interregional routes to go over to BEMU'S offering faster acceleration and lower costs than the BCR would have been much higher.

This, 100%

 

[Trainbike46]

There are a lot of currently diesel routes that current BEMUs could do, while charging on existing or soon to be finished OHLE (e.g., OHLE being constructed on the MML, or as part of the TPU). In my view, a large order for BEMUs should be placed to take over all those routes in the near term. DMUs can be displaced and used on routes that don't currently have the infrastructure to enable BEMUs. While this is happening, we can figure out how best to do the harder bits (e.g., Southwest, where there isn't currently any electrification).

We should start by doing the easy bits first, to buy ourselves time to design the solution for the hard bits with care and properly.

Future electrification strategies need to take account of BEMU capabilities in terms of offering the best BCR.

Schemes designed to allow large areas to go over to BEMU'S alongside mainlines going fully electric will have much better BCR than mainlines alone.

Consider the ECML electrification scheme if it was done today but allowed the many local and interregional routes to go over to BEMU'S offering faster acceleration and lower costs than the BCR would have been much higher.

Absolutely!

 

[Nottingham59]

There are a lot of currently diesel routes that current BEMUs could do, while charging on existing or soon to be finished OHLE (e.g., OHLE being constructed on the MML, or as part of the TPU). In my view, a large order for BEMUs should be placed to take over all those routes in the near term. DMUs can be displaced and used on routes that don't currently have the infrastructure to enable BEMUs.

Which is why I believe the next sections of MML electrification should really have been planned for Dore-Sheffield, and then Derby-Nottingham. But that's not compatible with grid feeder plans, unfortunately.

 

[HSTEd]

Which is why I believe the next sections of MML electrification should really have been planned for Dore-Sheffield, and then Derby-Nottingham. But that's not compatible with grid feeder plans, unfortunately.

I'm not sure its really sensible to let a grid feeder design for a fully electrified MML dictate electrification in our brave new world, where it is unlikely that the MML will ever be fully electrified.

There has been no approval for further conventional MML electrification, at least that I am aware of.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Future electrification strategies need to take account of BEMU capabilities in terms of offering the best BCR.

Schemes designed to allow large areas to go over to BEMU'S alongside mainlines going fully electric will have much better BCR than mainlines alone.

Consider the ECML electrification scheme if it was done today but allowed the many local and interregional routes to go over to BEMU'S offering faster acceleration and lower costs than the BCR would have been much higher.

Absolutely totally agree.

 

[duffield]

I'm not sure its really sensible to let a grid feeder design for a fully electrified MML dictate electrification in our brave new world, where it is unlikely that the MML will ever be fully electrified.

There has been no approval for further conventional MML electrification, at least that I am aware of.

NR are cracking on with plenty of preparatory work north of the current limit of electrification, and relevant contracts are being awarded. The clear implication is that they have "got the nod" ahead of the big infrastructure announcement coming in June. Otherwise these developments make no sense at all.

This is all being discussed on the MML electrification progress thread.
Link to a relevant recent sequence of posts on that thread, there's a couple of pages with lots of evidence that further electrification is going ahead:

MML Electrification: progress updates

If it's just the portals that are listed, would that make track lowering an option? Looks like a tight squeeze!

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