Daimler is bringing a battery-powered bus to market in 2018

Daimler released its latest report for its bus division this week and confirmed its plan to bring a battery-powered bus to market in 2018 as part of its E-mobility platform.

The German automaker is planing two powertrain additions to its Citaro bus (see above): E-CELL, the battery-powered version, and F-CELL, the hydrogen fuel cell version.

Daimler shared a few details in its report:

“As an alternative to the further optimized drivetrain with a combustion engine, the next steps on the road to the future are the battery-electric Citaro E-CELL and the hydrogen-driven Citaro F-CELL. They are based on a joint E-Mobility platform. On this basis, Daimler Buses will bring both powertrain concepts to production standard and on the roads by 2018. In the development of these technologies, Daimler Buses benefits strongly from its affiliation in the group because the vehicle divisions are also working together on the road to emission-free driving. For example, this also applies for the integration of the new electronics platform B2E in the Citaro. It is even more powerful, more reliable and more flexible. In addition, in the course of its introduction, the working area for the driver was upgraded again, among other things, by a larger and more visible Color display and simplified operating elements for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning.”

The company is currently working with cities and bus operators to determine which vehicle they can transit to battery-powered based on all relevant parameters, from the length of the lines to the number of passengers, the charging infrastructure and the size of the battery as well as the standing times.