39 MAN electric buses will start service at VAG Nürnberg this year. VAG and MAN have presented the first articulated vehicle to the press. This first one will be followed by 27 more of the Lion’s City 18 E model and eleven MAN Lion’s City 12 E this year. VAG’s e-bus fleet thus grows to 46 vehicles, which is almost a quarter of the fleet.
Josef Hasler, Chairman of the Board of Management of VAG Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg, commented: “Environmental and climate protection have a high priority in public transport which is already environmentally and climate-friendly per se. VAG is now creating the basis for emission-free public transport by switching to eMobility for buses as well. Anyone who takes climate and environmental protection seriously must act now. We are setting a good example and will be procuring exclusively eBuses over the next few years.” To ensure that public transport becomes emission-free not only locally, but also globally, VAG is charging its eBuses with green electricity.
VAG will invest around 25 million euros in the 39 vehicles and related infrastructure. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment is subsidizing the investment with approximately 80 percent of the additional costs compared to a comparable diesel bus. The regional government of Bavaria is expected to provide a subsidy of around 3.4 million euros. Without this funding for the additional costs of the eBuses, the purchase of the ebuses would not be possible, as Josef Hasler points out.
Experience with the new MAN e-articulated bus has been very positive following initial test runs, which have totaled around 1,500 kilometers and in some cases already included passengers. The MAN e-articulated bus has a battery capacity of around 510 kWh of usable energy, which should ideally be enough for up to 400 kilometers. However, VAG’s target range is 200 to 250 kilometers in all weather conditions.
VAG’s new e-articulated bus will be in passenger service from mid-July. Special instruction of the drivers is not necessary, because all VAG drivers have received general instruction for high-voltage vehiclesSince the bus is based on the current diesel hybrid bus from MAN, which has already been in use at VAG for 1.5 years, the drivers are familiar with the vehicle.
Initially, the first e-articulated bus from MAN will also be needed for the commissioning of the VAG eBus port, including functional and charging tests. The eBus Port is being built in the Schweinau district of Nuremberg, right next to the depot and the bus workshops. It is in the final stage of the construction phase and will be the new home port for eBuses with 39 parking spaces from the end of the summer. These can be parked and charged here.
For its commitment to eMobility in the bus sector and the construction of the eBus port, VAG was awarded the Zfk Award for Sustainability in May of this year.
