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Electrification of the public transport network: World premiere of the all-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro city bus

It emits zero local emissions and runs almost silently. It combines the thousand fold proven platform of Mercedes-Benz’ best-selling city bus with new technological solutions and an independent design. The all-electric Mercedes‑Benz eCitaro takes electric city buses to a new level and impresses with its innovative thermal management system with exceptional energy efficiency and reliability … Continued

It emits zero local emissions and runs almost silently. It combines the thousand fold proven platform of Mercedes-Benz’ best-selling city bus with new technological solutions and an independent design. The all-electric Mercedes‑Benz eCitaro takes electric city buses to a new level and impresses with its innovative thermal management system with exceptional energy efficiency and reliability of range. Its performance enables the eCitaro to cover a large part of the requirements of the transport operators right from the start.

“We no longer place a question mark after electric mobility for trucks and buses – we rather place an unequivocal exclamation mark! With our world premiere of the eCitaro today, we are shaping the future of the public transport network – and that is of great significance to our customers, to society and naturally enough to us at Daimler Trucks & Buses as well. That is why we are consistently working on the electrification of our vehicles – and we have been doing so for many years now”, explains Martin Daum, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Daimler Trucks & Buses.

Daum continues: “Along with our customers we have built up valuable expertise and have moved forward step by step. But one thing has always been clear to us: Seriousness comes before speed. We want electric commercial vehicles that function reliably under all conditions – for example in any outdoor temperature, in any volume of traffic and on any topography. Reliability is especially important for city buses and the public transport network because here it’s all about transporting people – safely and punctually.”

The eCitaro gets a tailor-made trendsetting design

It will be easy to spot the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro in the city in the future: It is based on the familiar looks of the Citaro, but takes up elements from the design idiom of the revolutionary Mercedes‑Benz Future Bus concept vehicle, thus transporting the unmistakable design of the Citaro into the future. This is particularly evident in the face of the eCitaro. Overall, the eCitaro sports a solid appearance with clearly drawn contours. Optical tricks lend the eCitaro perfect proportions and make it seem light.

First major orders secured – delivery from the end of the year

The first Mercedes-Benz eCitaro will be delivered at the end of the year and will go into practical operations in the context of a so-called customer-oriented driving test. The Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH, operator of the local public transport system in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, signed a corresponding declaration of intent with the Daimler subsidiary EvoBus GmbH. Series production of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro with all-electric drive will then begin at the end of the year at the Mannheim bus plant. The transport operators in Hamburg and Berlin have already ordered a total of 35 eCitaro buses.

eCitaro: Kick-off for an innovation initiative to electrify the public transport network

“The new Mercedes-Benz eCitaro is the kick-off for an innovation initiative to electrify the public transport network. In doing so, we are offering our customers more than just a battery concept, rather a complete eMobility system. Our in-house eMobility Consulting service advises our customers on their journey to electric mobility”, says Till Oberwörder, Head of Daimler Buses and Chairman of the Board of Management of EvoBus GmbH.

The electric Citaro forms part of Daimler Buses’ integrated eMobility system. The focus is on the eConsulting expert advice service even before any purchase is made. Experts at EvoBus analyse every route the customer operates and a simulation program then calculates the energy requirements for the future electric buses in the system. This consultation results in precise recommendations and calculations on energy consumption, the infrastructure required and the recommended connection power for the depots’ power supply as well as recommendations for charging management. A special eMobility service from the Omniplus service brand will be available in future for service, maintenance and repair.

Oberwörder explains: “We are already showing our customers today what we have planned for the future: That we are continuing to improve the range for the eCitaro and what technology paths we will be taking to achieve this. We are taking this unusual step because we want to ensure planning security to the municipalities at an early stage. For us it is decisive that they know they can make long-term plans with us for changing to electromobility.”

CASE strategy at Daimler Buses: Investments of 200 million euro by 2020

In order to shape the future of mobility, Daimler Buses is investing around 200 million euro in the implementation of the CASE strategy, and that is just up until 2020. CASE at Daimler stands for the future topics of connectivity (Connected), autonomous driving (Autonomous), flexible use (Shared & Services) and electric powertrains (Electric). A significant proportion is going toward building up competencies, and into development and production of electric buses. Series production of the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro will take place in the Mannheim production plant. The development team based in Neu-Ulm will also be increasingly dedicating themselves to semi-automated and automated driving in future.

An overview of the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro

The platform of the new Mercedes‑Benz eCitaro is the Citaro, the brand’s best-selling city bus with more than 50 000 units sold. Lithium-ion batteries with a total capacity of up to about 243 kWh provide the power for the eCitaro.They are modular in design: the batteries are divided between as many as ten modules, each supplying around 25 kWh. In addition to two battery modules on the vehicle roof, the standard equipment includes four battery modules in the rear of the bus. Depending upon customer requirements, another two or four battery modules are mounted on the roof of the eCitaro. With a minimum of six and up to a maximum of ten possible battery modules, transport operators can adapt their usage and charging strategy very precisely to individual needs.

With the maximum complement of ten battery modules, the eCitaro in standard specification weighs around 13.44 tonnes. In conjunction with a gross vehicle weight rating of 19.5 tonnes, this corresponds to a payload of more than six tonnes or around 88 passengers – in line with what is needed in practice even during rush hour.

The eCitaro’s charging technology also allows it to adjust to the individual wishes and requirements of the transport operators. For the start of series production, plug-in charging is intended. To this end, the city bus has a connection for a Combo 2 plug. If opportunity charging is required to extend the range, there will also be an option to charge the eCitaro via a pantograph in future.

However, the battery capacity alone provides little indication of the actual performance capability and, above all, the range of an all-electric city bus – the true measure is that of energy consumption. In the case of a city bus, this is impacted significantly by climatic conditions and consequently by the need to cool and, above all, to heat the interior. The engineers have therefore put a considerable amount of thought into the issue of thermal management. It is one of the outstanding features of the eCitaro and has been honed and refined in every detail: compared with the current Citaro with combustion engine, the energy requirement for heating, ventilation and climate control has fallen by about 40 percent. This exceptional energy efficiency provides the basis for the eCitaro’s practical operating range – even under unfavourable conditions.

High efficiency: practical range also under difficult conditions

Operating range figures for all-electric-powered city buses are often difficult to compare since reference values can be missing and the figures have often been calculated under ideal conditions. Things are different with the eCitaro: In the interests of reliable data, Mercedes-Benz prefers to consider a “worst-case scenario” and therefore takes its direction from the challenging standardised city driving cycle known as SORT2. To make things even trickier, Mercedes‑Benz also adds the energy requirements of the ancillary consumers into the equation. According to SORT2, the Citaro with a full complement of batteries should be able to achieve an operating range of around 150 kilometres in the summer. In other words, it is already possible to serve some sub-networks within the daily workload of a city bus without opportunity charging. Without opportunity charging, the eCitaro already covers about one third of all requirements of the transport operators. Under ideal conditions, the eCitaro even drives around 250 kilometres without opportunity charging.

The future is electric: kick-off for an innovation initiative

The new Mercedes-Benz eCitaro of the year 2018 is the kick-off for an innovation initiative with a clear strategy aimed at the swift and above all practical electrification of public transit with buses in cities and population centres. 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 already covers about 30 percent of all requirements of the transport operators. Since the development of battery technology is progressing at a rapid pace, the eCitaro is already designed to be transitioned to the future battery technology. The next generation of the eCitaro will then cover around 50 percent of all applications. This greater battery capacity also makes a meaningful introduction of an eCitaro G articulated bus with a reasonable range possible. Additional development steps are already mapped out, including the use of so-called solid-state batteries, which are characterised by a particularly long service life as well as high energy density. With a rated battery capacity of about 400 kWh in the solo bus and even more in the articulated bus, the eCitaro will then meet about 70 percent of all requirements without opportunity charging.

Revolutionary step: Fuel cell as a range extender

Subsequently, the range of the eCitaro will be increased yet again by a range extender in the form of a fuel cell that generates electricity. It will be designed to allow the eCitaro to fulfil nearly 100 percent of all requirements on city buses. This technology eliminates the need for opportunity charging and the complex infrastructure required for it in almost all cases – the eCitaro will be able to replace city buses with combustion engine virtually one to one.

Public funding supports development

The development of a marketable city bus transport system using solely battery power takes place via the “SAEBEL” project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure as part of the electric mobility funding policy with a total of 1.85 million euro. The implementation of the funding policy is being coordinated by NOW, the German “National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel-Cell Technology”. Results of the various funding activities of the BMVI in the context of local public transport are combined within the programme support research as part of the working group “Innovative Powertrains Bus”. To accelerate the market development for the eCitaro with fuel-cell technology as a range extender, Daimler Buses aims for funding as part of the German “National Innovation Programme – Hydrogen and Fuel-Cell Technology” (NIP).

 

Other IAA world premieres: new assistance systems, Active Brake Assist 4 as standard

 

Mercedes-Benz and Setra again set standards in active safety at the 2018 IAA with assistance systems. Active Brake Assist 4 for touring coaches is the first ever brake assist system that also brakes for pedestrians. It will become standard equipment on the touring coaches from Mercedes-Benz and Setra in 2019. Preventive Brake Assist is the first active brake assist system ever for city buses. Finally, Sideguard Assist is the first assistance system to warn of pedestrians, cyclists and stationary obstacles when turning. It is available for the entire range of city buses and touring coaches from Mercedes-Benz and Setra. All three assistance systems unburden the driver in his work and protect more vulnerable road users. All three can save lives.

 

World premiere: The new generation of Mercedes-Benz minibuses

 

The new Mercedes‑Benz Sprinter forms the basis for a likewise totally new generation of the successful minibuses bearing the three-pointed star. As before, they comprise the model series Sprinter City, Sprinter Transfer, Sprinter Mobility and Sprinter Travel, and will be launched successively. The names stand for operations in line service, as a versatile shuttle bus, for transport of passengers with limited mobility, and for tourist transport. As a result, the Sprinter as a minibus covers all conceivable types of operations. The Sprinter City 75 with exclusive technology plays a prominent role: Thanks to an extended wheelbase, the compact city bus with discreet skeleton body offers a large low-floor platform and due to its exclusive high-load rear axle manages a high passenger capacity.

 

IAA premiere: the new Setra S 531 DT double-decker bus

 

The spectacular Setra TopClass S 531 DT double-decker bus sets standards in its class and now celebrates its IAA premiere. In addition to its impressive appearance, it compels above all as a prime example of aerodynamic and fuel efficiency, of maximum variability, comfort and highest level of safety. Due to its variable lower deck, the impressive touring coach covers all operations in tourist transport and regular service, and with superlative aerodynamics it is all set to establish new fuel efficiency records in its segment. The comprehensive standard safety equipment ranging from the new Active Brake Assist 4 to a fire extinguishing system is exceptional.

 

Premiere: service becomes digital with Uptime and Omniplus On

 

Service for buses and coaches becomes digital with Omniplus On, and opens up entirely new possibilities for bus operators and drivers thanks to connectivity. Digital services are bundled in a clearly arranged way on the new Internet portal Omniplus On. Omniplus On initially rests on three pillars. Omniplus On advance ensures maximum fleet availability for bus operators, for example with the revolutionary service Omniplus Uptime for continuously monitoring the relevant vehicle systems in real time. The data are continuously analysed and interpreted. If there are impending severe technical malfunctions, the bus operator is immediately informed by Omniplus 24h Service, together with concrete recommended actions to prevent a vehicle breakdown. Omniplus On monitor combines the telematics services for efficient fleet management. Finally, Omniplus On drive ensures the communication between the driver and the company, and helps the driver with the required daily departure check, for example.

 

Further information on the eCitaro and Daimler Buses outlook on the 2018 IAA Commercial Vehicles can be found here: www.d.ai/eCitaroIAA2018

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