The first 15 Mercedes-Benz eCitaro ordered for Berlin.
The Berlin Transport Authority (BVG) placed the largest bus order ever in Germany for 950 Mercedes-Benz Citaro (up to 600 articulated buses and 350 solo buses).
All those buses are diesels, which seems like a missed opportunity, but the company recently ordered 15 all-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro, which will be delivered from the first quarter of 2019.
It seems that for now, BEVs will stand for less than 2% of new purchases for BVG, which is kind of low (EV buses typically reach several times higher share than cars), but it needs to start somewhere.
The good news is that Daimler is quickly receiving new orders for eCitaro and soon should exceed 100 (the biggest manufacturers, which started earlier, delivered in Europe 500-600 electric buses to date).
Mercedes-Benz eCitaro spec:
- electric portal axle ZF AVE 130 with electric motors at the wheel hubs. The peak output of the motors is 2 x 125 kW, while torque is 2 x 485 Nm
- up to 243 kWh battery for 150 km (93 miles) of range in SORT2 test cycle (250 km / 155 miles at best)
- weight of 13.44 tonnes. As the gross vehicle weight is 19.5 tonnes, this corresponds to a payload of more than six tonnes or around 88 passengers
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