The first eCitaro was delivered a few weeks ago to Hochbahn Hamburg, the first public transport company to place an order for the bus (the public transport company ordered 20 eCitaro buses and 10 Solaris Urbino electric). Berlin received the first unit out of a 15 eCitaro order a few days ago (in the picture below). Now it’s Mannheim’s time. The launch of the eCitaro, in Daimler plans, is the kick-off for an innovation initiative with a clear strategy aimed at the electrification of public transit with the deployment of electric bus in cities and population centres.
Daimler is sure that the eCitaro will be able to replace city buses powered by a combustion engine nearly completely in just a few years. Without opportunity charging, the new eCitaro of the year 2018 equipped with up to 243 kWh of NMC batteries already covers, states Daimler, about 30 percent of all requirements of the transport operators. The next generation of the eCitaro will be able to cover, from 2020, still quoting the manufacturer, around 50 percent of all applications, thanks to the second generation of Nmc batteries.
The first electric eCitaro bus service in Heidelberg, Daimler states in a press release, goes from the main train station via the Seegarten to the Karlsplatz and then later to the Altstadt commuter rail station. Bus route 20 travels through Heidelberg’s city centre every 20 minutes, whereby it is expected that in the future two vehicles will cover the four kilometre long route with 12 stops. One of Mannheim’s electric bus routes leaves from Käfertal train station and travels via Wasserwerkstraße to the Franklin district, a new district where members of the US armed forces used to live. The other route begins at the Platz der Freundschaft and ends at the new Taylor industrial estate, which also once belonged to the US armed forces. One eCitaro will be in operation on each route.
