Two thirds of the Darmstadt city bus fleet will be electrically powered in the future. This was announced by the managing directors of HEAG Mobilo, Johannes Gregor and Arne Rath. The city’s own local transport company has recently purchased ten articulated buses with electric motors. Gregor said that in addition to avoiding carbon dioxide and noise, the new buses contribute to better air quality in the city. Since 2019, HEAG Mobilo has been gradually replacing its diesel buses with electrically powered ones. With the vehicles now delivered, 49 of the 78 city buses are electrified. The batteries in the latest e-buses have an energy density that is around 50 percent higher than the older ones. With seven battery packs and a capacity of 686 kilowatt hours, the new articulated buses have a range of 220 kilometers. The municipal company operates its vehicles exclusively with green electricity from Entega, which is also municipal. According to HEAG Mobilo, the expanded e-bus fleet will save one million liters of diesel and around 2,850 tons of carbon dioxide this year. By 2030, half of the city buses should be electric. The Federal Ministry of Economics is paying a high subsidy to purchase the new buses. The buses cost around 800,000 euros, about two to two and a half times as much as comparable diesel buses, says Rüdiger Kappel, sales manager at the manufacturer Daimler Buses. The ministry will cover around 80 percent of the additional costs compared to diesel buses, and will also contribute 40 percent of the costs for the new charging stations. The funds come from the European Union’s economic stimulus program, which was launched because of the pandemic, as well as from federal funds. The ten buses are part of 25 new purchases funded by the Darmstadt local transport company, for which the ministry is contributing 7.9 million euros. Of these 25 buses, 19 have already been handed over. “If there were new funding, then we would also start further procurement,” said Rath. The company once set itself the goal of electrifying its entire fleet by 2025. Since the federal government is currently not awarding any new subsidies, this can no longer be adhered to. Without the funding, the purchase would not be possible despite the savings that the e-buses made possible in operation. At current diesel and electricity prices, the operating costs are around a quarter cheaper than for diesel buses.More on the topicThe Federal Ministry of Economics is aiming for half of the city buses in Germany to be electrically powered by 2030, said Jascha Lackner, program manager at NOW, a federal GmbH for the support of sustainable mobility. Currently “we are approaching the ten percent mark”. Despite the uncertain prospects for funding, HEAG-Mobilo managing director Gregor said: “As far as the nationwide comparison is concerned, we are on a pretty steep course.”
Go to Source