In 2015, Berlin transport operator BVG (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe) will begin testing of a complete downtown line with Solaris electric buses equipped with on-board power supply equipment from Vossloh Kiepe and the PRIMOVE inductive charging system from Bombardier.

A similar bus went into service in the city of Braunschweig in April of this year.

The BVG will acquire a total of four 12-meter buses for electric operation on the 6.1-kilometer (3.8-mile) line between Zoologischer Garten (Hertzallee) and Station Suedkreuz Station. The Technical University of Berlin is supporting the project.

The PRIMOVE inductive charging system system is designed with an output of 200 kW, and uses an undercarriage pantograph-like mechanism lowered above an in-ground charging pad. At that transfer rate, only a few minutes fo charging time are required at the respective endpoints of the line.

BVG is receiving federal funding totaling nearly €2.3 million (US$2.9 million), while some €1.3 million (US$1.6 million) in funding is going to the TU Berlin. The funded project will run until summer 2016; BVG is planing for a longer use for the e-buses.