STIB Makes Strides Towards Electrification with Order of 70 Articulated Electric Buses from EvoBus

Brussels transport company, STIB, has made an investment towards the electrification of its fleet by ordering 70 articulated electric buses with Daimler Truck’s subsidiary EvoBus. The move is in line with the city’s plans to phase out diesel buses by 2025, and will see the buses replace the diesel models while also increasing the STIB’s capacity by 2,000 places. The order was placed through public procurement and with a loan granted by the European Investment Bank to the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region.

The new buses will be assigned to four lines, and will be fitted with charging infrastructure by Heliox, a company that has recently equipped large bus depots in Europe and the US. The charging facilities will be smart, and will enable the buses to charge en route using a pantograph, as well as via overnight charging at the depots. The depots themselves will be modified by STIB, and will be equipped to handle the new charging infrastructure.

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“The pantograph is a recent addition to the eCitaro model. While not specified, this is the only bendy bus in the EvoBus range. It typically comes standard with DC charging via plug at 150 kW and 300 kW pantographs. These are actually a “charging rail” since they work top-down, i.e. come down from a station to the connector on the roof of the bus. The pantograph also points to STIB having opted for NMC batteries since the solid-state batteries that Daimler also offers do not offer such fast-charging capacity,” noted a report by Electrive.

The first bus delivered will serve as a test vehicle for STIB, allowing the company to request any necessary adjustments before the remaining e-buses arrive. The new articulated buses will be assigned to four lines, lines 46 (Pannenhuis – Moortebeek), 53 (Military Hospital – Westland Shopping Center), 87 (Simonis – Beekkant) and 89 (Gare Centrale – Westland Shopping Center).

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STIB plans to electrify its entire bus fleet by 2035. Currently, the transport company has plans to electrify its fleet of 830 buses. “STIB is also preparing the electrification of other stops, namely Simonis, Beekkant and Gare Centrale, and the Marly bus depot, in Neder-Over-Heembeek,” noted the report.