Daimler Buses creates infrastructure subsidiary
Daimler Buses is setting up a subsidiary specialising in the design and construction of infrastructure for electric buses. In collaboration with its partners, Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH will provide customers across Europe with the complete infrastructure from a single source.
Daimler already provides charging solutions, digital fleet tools and other ecosystem components for electric bus customers. In the new, wholly-owned subsidiary, the bus manufacturer wants to further bundle its existing know-how and expand its portfolio.
Daimler Buses says it is counting on the new subsidiary’s independence through entrepreneurial freedom that should allow for rapid growth and short decision-making paths, “just like a start-up”. The management of Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH will be taken over by Dietrich Müller (51), previously Head of E-Systems at Daimler Buses.
Although the new company primarily appears to involve an organisational adjustment within Daimler Buses, the new subsidiary will expand offers on two new fronts. The new infrastructure company will expand its portfolio to include services “covering all aspects of the infrastructure required to operate buses with hydrogen-based fuel cell drives or range extenders,” and infrastructure solutions are to be provided across brands.
This means that even those who operate electric buses from other manufacturers – including those with FCEV buses – can get help from Daimler Buses Solutions in setting up an overall eMobility system. The offer spans individually configured electric buses to the complete infrastructure for the depot, including construction measures, electrical installations, chargers, battery storage, charging management system and other digital services. So far, Daimler has not said much about its hydrogen infrastructure ambitions. The company already formed a joint venture on fuel cell vehicles with Volvo in 2020 and has recently launched eCitaro fuel cell.
Daimler Buses CEO Till Oberwörder says: “Our customers not only need electrically powered buses, but complete solutions for the operation of e-fleets. Here, we are a real pioneer with our offerings and we are bringing this experience to our new subsidiary. With Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH, we want to further expand the business segment and give the unit maximum entrepreneurial freedom in a dynamic market environment.”
Mirko Sgodda, Head of Marketing, Sales and Customer Services at Daimler Buses, adds that the transformation can only succeed with a perfectly coordinated overall package of electric buses and ecosystem. “We are already providing transport companies with complete turnkey e-systems today. In line with the growing number of electrically powered buses, however, the complexity of electric infrastructure is also increasing. The pooling of all activities into one powerful business unit is an important milestone in optimally shaping our service portfolio for the future”
In March this year, Daimler Buses announced it will invest around 150 million euros in its Mannheim and Neu-Ulm plants by the end of the decade. From the second half of the decade, fully electric intercity buses will also roll off the production line in Neu-Ulm, as well as coaches with battery-electric and hydrogen-based fuel cell drive systems from the end of the decade.
The eCitaro, the manufacturer’s first series-produced electric bus, has been available on the city bus market since 2018 and – as mentioned – is now being supplemented by a variant with a fuel cell range extender. The models are each available as solo and articulated bus variants.
Daimler Buses wants to offer CO2-neutral vehicles in all segments in Europe and Latin America by 2030 and sell only fully electric vehicles for city buses in Europe. In the ELCH project, Daimler Buses is working with partners to develop electric drives for coaches.
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