Electric Benz bus quietly wafts in like a breath of fresh air

After its world premiere at the IAA Commercial Vehicles trade fair in September, the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro is bringing a breath of fresh air to Hamburg, Germany.

The company has delivered the fully electric bus to the public transport company Hochbahn AG in Hamburg as part of an order for 20 eCitaro buses.

Till Oberwörder, head of Daimler Buses, handed over the first eCitaro to Hamburger Hochbahn board chairman Henrik Falk. “The Mercedes-Benz eCitaro is advancing electromobility. In producing the new eCitaro, we have developed a well thought out and sophisticated urban bus concept which will make a decisive contribution towards promoting electromobility in towns and cities,” he said.

Starting in 2020, Hamburger Hochbahn intends to only buy emission-free buses. It operates about 1,000 buses on 111 lines.

The Mercedes-Benz eCitaro is the first fully-electric urban bus that has been developed and manufactured in Germany. Quiet and emission free on the road, it is an important building block on the way to reducing emissions, particularly in cities and other built-up areas.

Its innovative range-extending technology includes an energy-saving heat pump that warms the interior.

The modular battery packages have a capacity of up to 243kWh. They are cooled to an ideal temperature in the eCitaro, which results in maximum charging, the highest usable capacity and a long life cycle. The batteries drive two electric motors at the wheel hub.

The three-door version for Hamburger Hochbahn has a range of equipment with LED headlamps, LED exterior and interior lighting including ambient lighting in the passenger compartment, a warning system for closing doors with a red LED light strip, a separate automatic climate control for the passenger compartment and cockpit, and stability control.

The new eCitaro is based on the bestselling Mercedes-Benz Citaro, of which more than 50,000 have been sold.