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One of the important criteria in the tender for new trams for Warsaw was the value of energy consumption from the catenary network. For the designated route profile and the nominal load, it was declared by Hyundai Rotem at the level of 4.17 kWh/km. Already during the test drives, the energy consumption was found to be significantly lower, at just over 3.5 kWh/km. It was estimated that, with 85 trams, the difference would generate savings of more than 100 million zlotys over a period of 30 years. It now turns out that the savings may be even higher. The analysis of the data obtained from the operation of 20 140N-type vehicles in real conditions over a period of 12 months showed that the average value of total energy consumption, taking into account the energy returned to the catenary, is 3.22 kWh/km. That is over 20% less than Hyundai Rotem claimed in its bid.

 "This is a result of the use of a complete propulsion system designed by our company in Hyundai Rotem trams, as well as a system that recovers and stores the energy generated during braking. All power electronic devices were designed in the silicon carbide (SiC) technology, which allowed to achieve extremely high rates in terms of the energy efficiency,” said Paweł Choduń, vice president of Medcom.

 In addition to Medcom’s extremely efficient power electronics, the vehicles also use other solutions that contribute to the energy savings, such as SIL arrays, LED exterior and interior lighting, and solar-absorbing glass windows.

 “Over the past two years, 85 140N bidirectional trams and 18 141N unidirectional trams of approximately 33 meters in length, as well as 20 shorter 142N unidirectional trams of up to 24 meters in length, have been delivered to Warsaw. In addition to our propulsion systems and energy recovery and storage systems, all vehicles are equipped with a TCMS control system designed by our engineers,” added Paweł Choduń.