SWB buys ten Mercedes-Benz eCitaro – electromobility (e-mobility), public transport company | News | bus planner – technology – public transport

After SWB has so far only bought electric buses from Sileo, Ebusco and Solaris, Mercedes-Benz was awarded the contract for the eCitaro in the latest procurement round. Ten electric vehicles will also have their own charging infrastructure at the Bonn-Friesdorf depot. SWB Bus und Bahn is investing around 8.5 million euros in new vehicles and a payment system. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia supports the purchase with more than 3.4 million euros. The buses are scheduled to be deployed from mid-2025.

“I am very happy that we can realize the project with government funding. These funds will continue to be very important in the future to further expand the power capacity,” explained managing director Anja Wenmakers.

SWB: Climate neutrality by 2035

The expansion of the fleet of purely electric vehicles is a major concern for the transport company, as the Bonn public utility has set itself the goal of operating in a climate-neutral manner by 2035. By then, all diesel-powered buses must be replaced. There are currently seven electric buses from Ebusco and Solaris on the streets of Bonn.

Pantograph loading

To charge the eCitaro quickly and efficiently, Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH will install a turnkey pantograph fast charging system at the SWB depot from the end of this year. It supplies the 12 m long eCitaro’s batteries from top to bottom via an inverted scissor pantograph and charging rails on the bus roof. These have a capacity of 396 kWh – significantly less than the maximum possible 588 kWh for this model. The cars also each have three doors for quick entry and exit, CO₂-Heat pump, turning assistant and high-performance particle filter with an antiviral active layer.