Mercedes-Benz’s new eCitaro hydrogen fuel cell electric bus is set to be deployed in northern Italy starting from the end of this year. The public transport operator SASA has placed an order for nine units of the 18-meter-long articulated version of the electric bus, which comes with a fuel cell range extender.
Recently unveiled by Daimler, the eCitaro fuel cell bus will be utilized by SASA to serve the South Tyrol region in Italy, specifically between Merano and Bolzano, where longer-range electric buses are needed.
The deliveries are scheduled to take place between late 2023 and early 2024. SASA is the first publicly-announced customer for this new variant of the eCitaro, which made its market debut as an 18-meter bus with a fuel cell range extender at the Global Public Transport Summit in Madrid. Currently, it is not yet available for individual bus orders. You can find all the technical specifications of the new Mercedes-Benz city bus range extender version on their official website.
SASA provided a concise statement about their purchase, highlighting the eCitaro fuel cell’s range of 350 kilometers and its capacity to accommodate up to 128 passengers. They emphasize that the combination of two technologies in this bus makes it an ideal choice for the specific requirements of South Tyrol. This sentiment is shared by other public transport operators and hydrogen vehicle manufacturers, who often find that fuel cell vehicles are well-suited for the hilly terrains commonly found in South Tyrol, between Merano and Bolzano, when compared to purely electric bus technologies.
In a separate instance last year, the Vienna public transport operator, Wiener Linien, conducted tests with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and concluded that battery buses are better suited for flatter areas with available charging infrastructure, while hydrogen (H2) buses can handle more demanding routes with steep gradients.
SASA Bolzano has already made significant progress in expanding its fuel cell bus fleet. They have placed an additional order with the Portuguese manufacturer CaetanoBus for five 12-meter-long fuel cell buses and have been operating twelve Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen fuel cell buses since 2021.