Berlin’s transport operator Berliner Verkehrs-Gesellschaft BVG had announced to convert its 1500 buses strong fleet to emission-free operation by 2030, and is now moving forward: After an initial orders of 15 Mercedes eCitaro, 15 Solaris New Urbino 12 Electric and 15 Solaris articulated ebuses BVG to be supplied in 2019/20 the operator has now officially announced another purchase order. 90 more Solaris New Urbino 12 Electric with opportunity charging via pantograph at certain stops on the route will be delivered in 2020 and 2021. These ebuses will also charged overnight at the depot Indira-Ghandi-Strasse, but the additional pantograph charging allows for all-day services. This had caused much public debate as some politicians and lobbyists claimed the new ebuses being „expensive and not comparable in range to current diesel buses“. An additional feature of the new buses: The heating will be 100% electric.
Total costs for the 90 new vehicles and the necessary charging infrastructure is approximately EUR 61 million. Federal funds might be granted of some EUR 14 million.
Example of the first ebuses were presented at the recent Urban Mobility Day in Berlin: https://hosting129892.a2e10.netcup.net/en/berlins-urban-mobility-day-showcases-e-mobility-and-new-apps/
