Daimler Buses presented its first serial electric bus with a fuel cell as a range extender at the presentation of the eCitaro fuel cell at the Global Public Transport Summit. The start of the series production of the eCitaro fuel cell coincides with the trade fair premiere.

Daimler Buses already provided the first key data on the drive of the new eCitaro variant at the end of May, when it was announced that the eCitaro fuel cell will combine Mercedes-Benz’s third-generation lithium-ion batteries with a fuel cell as a range extender. As a solo bus, the model receives three battery packs with a combined capacity of 294 kWh. As an articulated bus, there are three or four packs with a cumulative capacity of up to 392 kWh. In both cases, the fuel cell has an output of 60 kW and comes from Toyota.

Daimler Buses gives a range of up to 350 kilometres for the articulated range-extender bus and up to 400 kilometres for the solo bus. In view of these ranges, the eCitaro fuel cell is not designed for intermediate charging on the route, but for pure depot charging via plug with up to 150 kW. It is “the ideal addition for transport companies with an existing battery-electric fleet that want to operate their long routes without having to recharge and without having to put on additional buses”. Of course, a hydrogen source is also needed to use the range extender. More on this below.