Battery-powered Stadler Flirt trains will operate in Schleswig-Holstein, with a range of 150 km under optimal conditions, although the longest non-electrified route they will operate on is around 80 km. The batteries will be recharged from the existing 15 kV 16·7 Hz overhead electrification.
The CEO of Stadler Germany has this to say about the economics of battery trains:
It makes us very proud that with the battery-powered Flirt we have not only managed to find an ecological and innovative solution, but have also enabled a clear economic improvement. If we consider the average life of a rail vehicle of around 30 years, battery-operated vehicles are more cost-effective than diesel.
I think it could be reasonable to assume that a UK-sized battery-electric Stadler Flirt could have a range of forty miles on batteries.
- Greater Anglia and Transport for Wales will be running the UK versions of the Stadler Flirts that will be used in Schleswig-Holstein.
- Transport for Wales will also be running a tri-mode Flirt with electric, diesel and battery power.