The countdown to zero emission buses has started: towards the end of next year, Mercedes-Benz will be starting series production of a city bus with all-electric drive system based on the international best-seller, the Mercedes-Benz Citaro.

“Our city bus produces zero local emissions and is ultra-quiet through town. The engineers are currently undertaking thorough testing of prototypes of the new bus under the toughest of conditions. As the technical concept, which involves a modular system for the power supply as well as optimised thermal management, makes clear: the Citaro with battery-electric drive will set a new milestone”, says Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses.

Der Citaro mit vollelektrischem Antrieb durchläuft zurzeit den gleichen umfangreichen Test- und Erprobungszyklus wie jeder andere Omnibus von Mercedes-Benz. Prototypen haben zum Beispiel erfolgreich eine erste Wintererprobung bei eisigen Temperaturen am Polarkreis und eine Sommererprobung in der Hitze der spanischen Sierra Nevada absolviert.
The Citaro with all-electric drive is currently being put through the same comprehensive cycle of trials and testing to which every other bus built by Mercedes-Benz is subjected. Prototypes have, for example, already successfully undergone initial winter testing in icy temperatures at the Arctic circle as well as summer testing in the heat of Spain’s Sierra Nevada.

Der Citaro mit vollelektrischem Antrieb durchläuft zurzeit den gleichen umfangreichen Test- und Erprobungszyklus wie jeder andere Omnibus von Mercedes-Benz. Prototypen haben zum Beispiel erfolgreich eine erste Wintererprobung bei eisigen Temperaturen am Polarkreis und eine Sommererprobung in der Hitze der spanischen Sierra Nevada absolviert.
The Citaro with all-electric drive is currently being put through the same comprehensive cycle of trials and testing to which every other bus built by Mercedes-Benz is subjected. Prototypes have, for example, already successfully undergone initial winter testing in icy temperatures at the Arctic circle as well as summer testing in the heat of Spain’s Sierra Nevada.

Der Citaro mit vollelektrischem Antrieb durchläuft zurzeit den gleichen umfangreichen Test- und Erprobungszyklus wie jeder andere Omnibus von Mercedes-Benz. Prototypen haben zum Beispiel erfolgreich eine erste Wintererprobung bei eisigen Temperaturen am Polarkreis und eine Sommererprobung in der Hitze der spanischen Sierra Nevada absolviert.
The Citaro with all-electric drive is currently being put through the same comprehensive cycle of trials and testing to which every other bus built by Mercedes-Benz is subjected. Prototypes have, for example, already successfully undergone initial winter testing in icy temperatures at the Arctic circle as well as summer testing in the heat of Spain’s Sierra Nevada.

Der Citaro mit vollelektrischem Antrieb durchläuft zurzeit den gleichen umfangreichen Test- und Erprobungszyklus wie jeder andere Omnibus von Mercedes-Benz. Prototypen haben zum Beispiel erfolgreich eine erste Wintererprobung bei eisigen Temperaturen am Polarkreis und eine Sommererprobung in der Hitze der spanischen Sierra Nevada absolviert.
The Citaro with all-electric drive is currently being put through the same comprehensive cycle of trials and testing to which every other bus built by Mercedes-Benz is subjected. Prototypes have, for example, already successfully undergone initial winter testing in icy temperatures at the Arctic circle as well as summer testing in the heat of Spain’s Sierra Nevada.

Modular design of battery packs allows range to be tailored

Mercedes-Benz celebrated production of the 50 000th Citaro just recently – but development of the world’s number one best-selling city bus continues apace. Hot on the heels of the recently introduced Citaro hybrid with its highly efficient diesel or gas-engine drive system comes the next step, the all-electric Citaro.

It receives its drive energy from lithium-ion batteries. The modular design of the battery pack means that individually customised solutions can be devised to match a wide range of applications and requirements in city traffic.

As well as the possibility of charging it from a power socket at the depot, Mercedes-Benz can also as an option supply the Citaro with one of a range of intermediate recharging solutions. The vehicle is powered by electric wheel hub motors at the rear axle, a system already proven over recent years in the Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid.

Thermal management reduces energy consumption dramatically

One of the particular features of the Citaro with all-electric drive will be the meticulously refined thermal management of the bus’s drive and climate control systems. This thermal management reduces energy consumption significantly and is tantamount to extending the range of the bus without changing the size of battery.

Successful testing in bitter cold as well as extreme heat

The Citaro with all-electric drive is currently being put through the same comprehensive cycle of trials and testing to which every other bus built by Mercedes-Benz is subjected. Prototypes have, for example, already successfully undergone initial winter testing in icy temperatures at the Arctic circle as well as summer testing in the heat of Spain’s Sierra Nevada. Endurance testing and detailed refinements will now follow, ensuring that Mercedes-Benz will be able to offer maximum availability on a par with that of a conventionally powered urban bus.

The Citaro with all-electric drive will celebrate its world premiere in September 2018 at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover.

“The three new Mercedes-Benz vehicles clearly deserve a triple A rating,” said Andreas Renschler, the Daimler Board of Management Member responsible for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses, at the Arocs world premiere, which took place today in Munich. “The first three representatives of our heavy-duty truck platform are giving our global module strategy a big boost. At the same time, the all-new Arocs is enabling us to bring our Euro VI offensive for heavy-duty trucks to a close a full nine months before the new emissions limit goes into effect.” As a result, Mercedes-Benz customers are well prepared not only with regard to timing but also with respect to the total cost of ownership. Although the trucks are fitted with complex Euro VI technology, the Actros, Antos, and also the new Arocs are more efficient than their predecessor models. In fact, fuel consumption has been reduced by up to five percent.

The investment in the development of new vehicles is paying off. In 2012 Daimler Trucks produced almost as many vehicles in 11 months as it did in the whole of 2011, when the division’s six truck brands (Mercedes-Benz, Fuso, Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, and BharatBenz) manufactured approximately 426,000 vehicles. “Daimler Trucks substantially increased sales in 2012, despite volatile markets,” said Renschler. “We want to grow this year as well, especially in the second half of the year. We are benefiting from our global business model. Although the debt crisis hampered markets in Europe, Mercedes-Benz was able to buck the general trend, thanks, in part, to the model offensive spearheaded by the new Actros. In Germany, three out of four new Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks are already being ordered with Euro VI technology.”

Arocs to be launched on the market in mid-2013

Beginning in May 2013, the new Mercedes-Benz Arocs will be gradually introduced in Europe. In addition to being extremely environmental friendly as a result of Euro VI technology, the special construction vehicles boast three special attributes: power, efficiency, and robustness.

Never before in the history of Mercedes-Benz Trucks has the range of heavy-duty construction vehicles been as broad as it is today. The truck brand was established more than 110 years ago, when automobiles began to supplant horse-drawn vehicles. “Our roots are here in the construction industry,” said Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks since December 2012, at the presentation of the all-new Arocs. “Mercedes-Benz has shaped the construction sector more than any other truck manufacturer. We have an above-average market share in nearly all areas of the construction sector. Almost half of the construction site trucks in Germany sport the Mercedes star on their hoods. More than two out of five Mercedes-Benz trucks sold worldwide are construction site vehicles.”

The all-new Arocs is Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ third heavy-duty special vehicle. The first was the Actros for long-haulage operations, followed by the Antos for heavy-duty distribution transportation, and now the Arocs for the heavy-duty construction segment. Stefan Buchner is convinced that this product strategy exactly matches the interests of today’s customers. “All-purpose vehicles are increasingly becoming a thing of the past,” he said. “That’s why we used a common platform to develop custom-tailored vehicle series for individual segments.”

This product strategy is already beginning to pay off for the Actros. “To date, we have sold more than 16.000 units of the new Actros truck in Europe,” Buchner said. “One-third of these trucks feature Euro VI technology. It was mainly due to the Actros that no other manufacturer sold more tractors in Europe last year than we did.”

The construction industry has a lot of catching-up to do

Andreas Renschler, Head of Daimler Trucks, predicts that the all-new Arocs will have a bright future. “The commercial vehicle business will continue to grow globally,” he said. “This is due, in part, to the construction industry, which estimates that alone in Germany there is a demand for 250,000 new apartments per year. New construction was about 40,000 units below this figure in 2012 and will probably be about 20,000 units lower this year. In other words, the construction industry has a lot of catching-up to do.”

In the fuel cell bus category, the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid won the EBUS Award, the environmental award for public local transport. Roman Biondi, brand spokesman for Mercedes-Benz buses and EvoBus, and Ulrich Piotrowski, the Market Launch Manager for Mercedes-Benz hybrid and electric buses, accepted the award in Cologne on September 28, 2012 from Professor Ralph Pütz of the Landshut University of Applied Sciences, in the presence of Rainer Bomba, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development.

Under the patronage of Dr. Peter Ramsauer, the Federal Minister for Transport, Building and Urban Development, the Forum for Transport and Logistics was offering the EBUS Award, the environmental award for public local transport, for the first time this year. “The EBUS Award recognises the efforts that have been made up to now to introduce electric buses into public local transport, and is intended as an incentive for everyone to drive forward further innovative developments in this sector”, said Professor Adolf Müller-Hellmann, chairperson of the Forum for Transport and Logistics, in his speech at the award ceremony.

The judges’ verdict

The fit-for-the-future drive concept in the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid, which comprises the fuel cell, lithium-ion battery and electric motor, enabling the Mercedes-Benz city bus to travel over 300 kilometres without producing any emissions whatsoever, demonstrates that it is a worthy winner of the award. The judges particularly welcomed the use of a fuel cell that had already been deployed in the passenger car segment. Additionally, they said that the 17 Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid units already built emphasised the seriousness with which the development has been driven forward by Daimler Buses.

The FuelCELL concept in the Citaro

Thanks to improved fuel cell components (the fuel cell stacks are now identical to those in the Mercedes-Benz B-Class FCELL with fuel cell drive) and the hybridisation with lithium-ion batteries (27 kW/h), the new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid delivers a 50-percent saving in hydrogen compared with the predecessor generation. As a result, it has been possible to reduce the number of tanks from the total of nine on board the fuel-cell buses deployed in earlier trials to seven, holding 35 kg of hydrogen in all. With the new FuelCELL Hybrid drive system, the fuel cell, as the electricity supplier, is intelligently linked to several components: to the battery, to the electric wheel hub drive and also to the integrated regenerative braking system. An internal combustion engine is now completely superfluous. The range of the fuel cell bus is over 300 kilometres, and the refuelling time is just eight to ten minutes. This means that the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid can be deployed just as simply and flexibly as today’s diesel vehicles. What is more, the drive system and fuel cell are virtually maintenance-free and very long-lasting. With these diverse technical advances, buses running on electric power alone with fuel cells as energy generators are now a major step closer to production maturity. The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid opens the way to permanent emissions-free public local transport, making it a key element for future mobility. The use of synergies and the technology transfer from the passenger car to the bus make the fuel cell in the bus both fit for the future, and sustainably economical for the operator.

The EBUS Award, the environmental award for public local transport

The Forum for Transport and Logistics is a joint initiative of the DEVK insurance group and the VDV (Association of German Transport Companies). The EBUS Award is being offered for the first time, and is intended to publicise externally qualitative and innovative solutions in the field of electric buses. As well as the fuel cell buses category won by the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid, awards were also presented for the categories hybrid buses, battery-driven buses, innovative components for buses with electric drives, operating concepts, instruction, education, and training and marketing measures. Scientific supervision was provided by Professor Dr. Dirk-Uwe Sauer from the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives at the research university of technology, the RWTH Aachen. It is planned to next offer the environmental award for public local transport in 2014.

Daimler AG and Uzavtosanoat JSC today signed an agreement for the establishment of a bus joint venture. The ceremony was held in Tashkent. The joint venture will assemble and sell coaches, intercity buses, city buses, and midibuses for the Uzbek market and for export to neighboring countries. The contract’s closing is scheduled for the third quarter of 2010.

“I’m delighted that we have taken another important step today in our efforts towards opening up growth markets,” said Andreas Renschler, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG with responsibility for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses. “We have been selling Mercedes-Benz buses to customers in Uzbekistan, and in particular in Tashkent, since 1994. Today we have created the basis for also producing a wide range of buses in the country and for serving the neighboring growth markets with locally manufactured products.”

Gairat Niyazov, Deputy Chairman of Board of Uzavtosanoat JSC: “As a result of a very intensive negotiation process, and thanks to the full support of the Government of Uzbekistan and constructive approach of Daimler, we were able to successfully complete our negotiations and attract into the automotive industry of Uzbekistan another very important strategic partner. As a result, a production of modern, high quality high capacity buses will be created in Uzbekistan. Along with producing new models of buses, we, jointly with our partners, will work on localization of components and parts production in Uzbekistan, which will further facilitate the development of the industry in general.”

Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, said: “Local production will significantly improve the market opportunities for Daimler Buses in Uzbekistan and Central Asia. With Uzavtosanoat, we know that we have a strong, professional and reliable partner that knows the Central Asian markets inside out and has considerable experience in production and sales.”

The Daimler subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Buses Central Asia GmbH will own a majority stake (51 percent) in the new joint venture. The remaining 49 percent of the new firm will be owned by the automotive holding company Uzavtosanoat. The new company will have $8 million of equity capital.

Uzavtosanoat will provide the factory buildings. Daimler Buses will deliver the Mercedes-Benz chassis, while the bodies will be built in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz’ long-standing body-building partner, Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV).

The production capacities being created allow a minimum of 600 buses annually under full-scale production, with the possibility to gradually increase the volumes. The first batch of vehicles is to be delivered as early as September. The products manufactured in Uzbekistan will include luxury coaches as well as intercity buses and low-entry city buses and midibuses, which will be sold under the “Mercedes-Benz” brand. All buses fulfill the Euro 3 emission standard which has been effective in Uzbekistan since January 2010.

It is envisaged that the Joint Venture will use advanced production technologies and will also localize automotive parts and components. The parties of the joint venture will also assist the JV in establishing its sales and after-sales network. In order to support export, it is planned to use the existing dealer networks of both Uzavtosanoat and Daimler in neighboring countries.

To date, Daimler Buses has sold around 1,000 buses to customers in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. All the city buses over eight tons GVW sold over the past years were Mercedes-Benz Conecto vehicles, giving the star brand a 100-percent share of the market for city buses longer than 12 meters.

Tashkenthas a very well-organized local public transportation system, which operates Central Asia’s largest and most modern bus fleet on an extensive network of roads. The city’s existing fleet of Mercedes-Benz 0405 city buses is gradually being replaced with Mercedes-Benz Conecto vehicles. Tashkent is also the only city in Central Asia to operate a subway (metro).