The Bolloré group's electric buses, stopped two years ago after impressive fires in Paris, returned to the RATP network on Monday, with more protection against fires.
“We have taken a set of measures to guarantee all safety conditions
,” Pierre Ravier, deputy director of Île-de-France Mobilités, the authority responsible for organizing transport in the region, reassured Monday. In his bus depot in eastern Paris, Kévin Iddir, RATP machinist, was delighted on Monday to get back behind the wheel of these buses from the Bluebus brand, a subsidiary of the Bolloré group:
“electric means more comfort for passengers.”
On April 4, 2022, one of these buses suddenly caught fire, projecting molten metal several meters, without causing any casualties, the passengers being able to escape in time. Three weeks later, a second fire completely destroyed an empty bus, forcing the RATP to return the 148 Bluebuses that made up its fleet to the garage. The manufacturer claims to have since identified the problem causing these two consecutive fires: a manufacturing defect on a specific series of batteries, namely a poorly positioned insulator.
New security added
Bluebus promises that this defect is absent from other battery packs it builds. It has also added new safety features in the event of a fire, including formwork to contain it for longer and a light warning the driver when the bus must be immediately evacuated. The Bolloré group's buses do not use the classic lithium-ion technology of electric vehicles, but an in-house technology of lithium metal polymer (LMP) batteries,
"safer than a conventional battery because the electrolyte is solid"
, believes Serge Amabile, commercial director of Bluebus.
“It’s just the manufacturing process on a particular series that was not compliant.”
After several months of discussions, the Bolloré group reached an agreement with RATP in January, agreeing to compensate it for an undisclosed amount. 232 Bluebuses (including 84 additional compared to the 148 previously in circulation) will be redeployed on the RATP network between now and the Olympic Games.