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Karsan Jest Electric in Erkelenz

Karsan Jest Electric (west car 2044) on 14 September 2020 on line "EK 4" at the railway station in Erkelenz | © Christian Marquordt

The city of Erkelenz is located between Aachen and Mönchengladbach and has a population of just over 43,000. It is connected to the A 46 motorway and the Mönchengladbach-Aachen railway line. In addition, there are several regional bus lines including limited stop services SB 1 (Erkelenz – Übach-Palenberg) and SB 81 (Erkelenz – Mönchengladbach). Remarkable for a city of this small size, however, is the fact that there are four dedicated local bus routes operating in the town, numbered “EK 1” to “EK 4”.

On 26 June 2020, a new era began for the Erkelenz city bus operations. For the first time, an all-electric minibus was presented, which is operating on line “EK 4” ever since. Line “EK 4” is an hourly Monday-to-Friday-only service starting at 6.15 a.m. and returning from its last round at 19.46 p.m. to Erkelenzer Bahnhof with the line operating in form of an “8”. It connects the railway station with Borschemich and Oerather Mühlenfeld. 13.5 operating hours are within the range of 210 kilometers without recharging.

The route is operated by a Turkish Karsan of the “Jest Electric” model, for the first time in service in Germany. Karsan is based in the Turkish city of Bursa, in the country’s Asian part and near the Marmara Sea. Like many of its Turkish competitors, the company is still very young with its founding year of 1966. Karsan focusses on mini buses and midibuses for a long time. In addition, and under license, commercial vehicles (i.e. light trucks) of large European manufacturers (such as Citroen, Fiat and Peugeot) and from Asia are produced.

Karsan Jest Electric (west car 2044) on 14 September 2020 on line “EK 4” at the railway station in Erkelenz | © Christian Marquordt

In Italy, we know the renowned bus manufacturers Breda and Menarini, the latter from the beleaguered city of Bologna. Both companies merged at the turn of the millennium to form Breda-Menarinibus, which later became known as the “Industria Italiana Autobus (IIA)”. IIA’s business operations always suffered from financial problems which ultimately gave Karsan the opportunity to acquire a 70% stake in IIA. Since then, the company also produces full-scale 12-metre buses and articulated buses on the basis of an inner-group license agreement. Examples of which can be found in Istanbul, as “BredaMenarinibus AvanCity CNG” (i.e. cars with natural gas drive).

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BredaMenarinibus AvanCity CNG of the IETT Istanbul (no. 2013-4168) built under license of Karsan in 2013

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Karsan has the intention to grow, also in Europe. For this purpose, a cooperation agreement was signedwith Quantron AG from Augsburg. Quantron is Karsan’s exclusive sales and service partner for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (“DACH region”) and sells the electric buses “Jest Electric” and its larger brother “Atak Electric”. A central spare parts warehouse for Europe was recently opened in Nuremberg. From there it is envisaged to deliver spare parts within 24 hours to any location within Europe.

Technical data – Karsan Jest Electric

Structure made of plastic and aluminium Length: 5,800 mm Width:  2,055 mm Height: 2,630 mm without air conditioning equipment, 2,800 mm including A/C Wheelbase: 3,750 mm Low-floor platform

Passenger capacity: 25 passengers 9 or 10 seats (depending on customer wash) 2 or 3 foldingsit on the low-floor platform 15 or 16 standing seats (depending on the number of fixed seats)

Electric motor: BMW (as in BMW i3) Lithium-ion batteries: BMW (as in BMW i3) 1 or 2 battery sets at 44 kWh each 8 modules with 12 cells each battery set Warranty on batteries: 4 years or 60,000 km per battery pack maximum power: 135 kW V/max 70 km/h maximum climbing capacity: 25% maximum range: 210 km BMW On-Board Charging Technology Charging socket in the front between the windshield and grill, under the “K” as a trademark Fast charging: 80% of the maximum charge in 55 minutes

single wheels on both axles – with single-wheel suspension Rear-view camera

06.10.2020
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