- Trophy for the lowest fuel consumption on urban regular-service route
- World’s first urban bus complying with the Euro VI emissions standard, with well over 1000 vehicles in service with customers
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro Euro VI received the “Green Bus Award 2014” at the IAA – the world’s leading exhibition for commercial vehicles. The prize has been awarded annually since 2011 to a touring coach and an urban bus in alternation by the specialist publications “Omnibusrevue” and “Busfahrer”. This year the trophy has been awarded for the third time in four years to a vehicle from Stuttgart-based Daimler AG.
The award goes to the urban bus displaying the lowest fuel consumption on the demanding “Omnibusrevue” test route in Berlin. The vehicles are tested on a slightly modified variant of urban bus line 200, which entails a highly demanding route limited exclusively to inner-city roads. A continuous succession of bus stops and traffic lights impose the highest demands on the driver and the deployed technology. The Citaro Euro VI is more than a match for these conditions, however, as maximum possible overall economy was a specified requirement in the vehicle’s development process.
The world’s first urban bus complying with the Euro VI emissions standard
The urban buses from Mercedes-Benz feature the impressive new BlueEfficiency Power engine line comprising six-cylinder in-line engines with a displacement of 7.7 and 10.7 l. In 2012 the Citaro was the world’s first regular-service bus to meet the Euro VI emissions standard. Independent studies have shown that in practice the Citaro comes in considerably below these limits. Pollutants are now barely detectable in its exhaust emissions.
The engines impress with their agile response and impressive power delivery combined with very smooth running. With the revs dropped further, the Citaro Euro VI operates even more economically, quietly and with a sound that is pleasant to the ear. Another example is the unique recuperation module: double-layer condensers called supercaps supplement the batteries by storing electrical power. In so doing they support the active battery/alternator management system.
Lowered entries, demand-controlled air compressor, electronically controlled compressed-air delivery and AdBlue injection without compressed air all help to lower fuel consumption. At the same time numerous other measures have reduced the weight – despite complying with Euro VI, the Citaro’s bodyshell is even more robust than previously and lighter into the bargain.Moreover, it even saves fuel. In the autumn of 2012 the Citaro Euro VI demonstrated this in an extensive test. In the “Record Run Buses”, fuel consumption under practical conditions was 8.5 percent lower than for the comparable preceding model, marking an impressive advance. Almost in parallel with the statutory deadline for the introduction of the Euro VI emissions standard at the start of 2014, today Mercedes-Benz is already handing over its 1000th Citaro model featuring Euro VI exhaust gas technology to a customer.
Rising to the challenge
For Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses, the award comes as an acknowledgement of many years of hard work: “Winning this trophy shows that we have adopted the right approach with the Mercedes-Benz Citaro Euro VI. This endorsement once again underscores Mercedes-Benz’s aspiration to set standards in the market. Both our new generation of vehicles and the fuel-efficient BlueEfficiency engines are representative of our pronounced sense of responsibility as a bus manufacturer towards people and the environment. For our company, shaping the future of mobility is a challenge which we address with dedication and passion.”
The best-selling Mercedes bus of all time
With 40,000 units produced to date, the Citaro is the Mercedes-Benz bus with the highest production output of all time. It has now even overtaken the previous No. 1 bus bearing the three-pointed star: at the end of its career, the legendary Mercedes-Benz O 303, in production from 1974 to 1992, was the bus with the highest production output worldwide, at more than 38,000 units.
No end to the career of the Citaro is in sight, however. On the contrary: it continues to go from strength to strength. With a total of 3027 units last year it achieved a market share of 37 percent in Germany and 16.4 percent in Europe.
