MERCEDES-BENZ CITARO ELECTRIC CITY BUS

Representatives of the Daimler subsidiary EvoBus and Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr have signed an agreement for the delivery of Mercedes-Benz Citaro city buses with battery electric drive. The first vehicles will be delivered at the end of 2018 and then go into practical operation in the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan region as part of customer trials. Two electric wheel hub motors on the rear axle power the fully electric Mercedes-Benz Citaro. The modular design of the lithium-ion battery pack means that individually customised solutions can be devised to match a wide range of applications and requirements in city traffic. The Citaro also features by around 2025, the world’s largest automaker still embraces a painfully slow transition as it aims to reduce global average new-vehicle CO2 emissions by 90% in 2050 (from 2010 levels).

Unlike the majority of Chinese, American, and European automakers, Toyota seems to be in no hurry to adopt zero-emissions vehicles on a large scale. Given its fixation a refined thermal management system that controls both the drive train and climate control system, thus reducing energy consumption to extend the range. Charging from a power socket at the depot can also be supplemented with intermediate recharging solutions. with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which Elon Musk famously referred to as “fool cells”, any large-scale production of battery electric vehicles seems to be largely dependent on Toyota’s efforts to develop solid-state batteries. Until then, expect to see a whole lot more Priuslike hybrid models rolling out of Toyota’s assembly plants across the globe.