On 9 November 2023, Paderborn’s city bus operator “PaderSprinter” celebrated a world premiere. “The world’s very first electric articulated bus from Mercedes-Benz with a fuel cell as a range extender” (model Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G REX, PaderSprinter no. 301) was put into service. UTM reported.
Exactly two weeks later, on 23 November, “Daimler Buses” handed over to “Rhein-Neckar Verkehr GmbH” for its operations in Heidelberg “the world’s very first two electric articulated buses from Mercedes-Benz with a fuel cell as a range extender” of the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G REX model (RNV no. 8200 and 8201).
Let’s leave the fact that there were two dates with the “world’s very first”. And let’s take a closer look at the two RNV vehicles.
RNV buses 8200 and 8201
These two vehicles, which have now been handed over, are the first of an order for 27 buses of this type. All 27 are due to be in service by mid-2025. They will be stationed at the RNV depot in Heidelberg. RNV has ordered a total of 48 buses of this model, 13 of the other articulated buses will go to Mannheim and eight to Ludwigshafen. There is also an option for a further 27 Mercedes eCitaro G REX buses, which could be delivered by 2027. This would give RNV an impressive fleet of 75 of these buses.
RNV has also had 36 Mercedes-Benz eCitaro 12-metre battery buses in service since 2018. Mercedes has already delivered over a thousand eCitaro buses in total. RNV has set itself the goal of using only emission-free buses by 2032.
Heidelberg’s Lord Mayor Prof. Dr Eckart Würzner and RNV’s Technical Managing Director Martin in der Beek welcomed the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Daimler Buses, Till Oberwörder, and André Baumann, State Secretary in the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport, to the handover ceremony. In his welcoming address, Mayor Würzner said that hydrogen technology is the “most viable drive technology for the future”.
In his statement, Daimler Buses CEO Oberwörder emphasised that the buses are built at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Heidelberg’s neighbouring city of Mannheim and therefore in the Rhine-Neckar region. State Secretary Baumann added that the Mannheim plant provides 17,000 jobs in the region.
Subsidies for buses and fuelling infrastructure
RNV is receiving grants totalling 16.55 million euros from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector for the 40 articulated vehicles with range extenders in Heidelberg and Mannheim as part of the “H 2 Rhine-Neckar” project. The eight vehicles for Ludwigshafen will receive funding from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs.
How the eCitaro G REX works
Mercedes describes the way in which its bus with fuel cell range extender works as follows: the bus always runs on electricity from its batteries, which it also uses to supply its auxiliary consumers such as interior lighting and heating. The fuel cell – with an output of 60 kW – is also always working. It is constantly recharging the batteries. In the course of its service, it charges enough electricity to give the bus a range of 400 kilometres. The fact that the fuel cell is not only switched on when the electricity in the batteries is running low can be explained using a good example: assume you have a photovoltaic system on your roof. It doesn’t only work when you need electricity in the house. And the bus needs electricity all the time anyway.
The future of the Mercedes bus plants
Oberwörder reported that the Mannheim plant will be converted into a pure production facility for electric buses from 2024. “Only electric buses will come from Mannheim.” The conversion of the plant will cost around 500 million euros.
Question: “And where does a bus operator get its bus if it still wants a diesel vehicle?” Oberwörder: “We still have our French plant in Ligny-en-Barrois.”
Oberwörder also emphasised that Mercedes will no longer produce diesel buses that comply with the Euro 7 emissions standard. “The end of Euro 6 means the end of diesel buses for us.” It’s a different story for coaches, of course. “We can’t do without diesel buses for the time being due to the necessary ranges.”
The new Wieblinger Weg depot
RNV is building a new depot on Wieblinger Weg for its hydrogen buses in Heidelberg. The construction site of this depot was also shown as part of a demonstration journey with coach 8200, one of the two new range extender buses. All 27 of the coaches now on order for Heidelberg are to be stationed here, and all 27 of them will be able to recharge their batteries with electricity and use water at the same time (!). The buses will be charged from the roof of the carports.
The RNV buses will be parked in two large “carports” at the rear of the site, which is by far the largest part of the site. Each of them will have a complete fuelling and loading area here. The technical facilities for the hydrogen refuelling station are being built in the left-hand section as seen from the road. The tanker semi-trailers that will deliver the hydrogen will also be set up here. RNV assumes that two of these trailers will have to be refuelled with hydrogen every day for the 27 vehicles.
There will be a public hydrogen refuelling station at the front of the road, on Wieblinger Weg. Private motorists can also refuel their hydrogen cars here – if they have one. The entire refuelling station facility will be operated by “H 2 Mobility Deutschland” as part of the “H 2 Rhein-Neckar” project. The hydrogen refuelling station to be built later in Ludwigshafen is to be operated as part of the “H 2 River” project.
The new eCitaro G REX buses, which have now been handed over to RNV, will first go into extensive trial operation, during which the drivers will also be trained on the new buses. They are scheduled to start revenue service on 1 April next year.
