MAN decides against developing Euro-7 buses

Bus manufacturer MAN will not invest in Euro 7 technology and instead will only have zero-emission buses in its portfolio for cities and municipalities from 2030. The manufacturer also presented its latest electric vehicle model in Barcelona: the Lion’s City 10.

“In 2030 we will not sell any combustion engine city bus in Europe,” said Heinz Kiess, Head of Product Marketing Bus at MAN Truck & Bus, at UITP Global Public Transport Summit 2023, which started on Sunday in Barcelona. “Looking at the evolution of the city bus market in Europe, we don’t see gas drivetrains to have a market in the future. We see room for fuel cell buses but no more than 10 per cent of the bus market,” he added.

In November, the EU Commission proposed new emission limits for Euro 7. For buses and trucks over 3.5 tonnes, these limits are to be binding from 2027 – for smaller commercial vehicles and passenger cars even two years earlier. What is known about this so far, we had already listed in an earlier article.

The problem now is that if a manufacturer wants to put Euro 7 vehicles on the road, technical and financial resources would have to be diverted from emission-free technologies – such as hydrogen or battery-electric vehicles – and shifted back to the combustion engine. This was also confirmed by MAN’s Chief Development Officer Frederik Zohm. He said that politicians should “just leave out one or two issues”, such as the planned Euro 7 regulation, which will cost manufacturers a lot of money that they will then not be able to invest in alternative drives.

At the UITP in Barcelona, MAN is also presenting the Lion’s City 10 E, the latest model in the electric bus family. It completes the battery-electric Lion’s City E city bus series, which now consists of variants with lengths of 10.5 metres, 12.2 metres and 18.1 metres.

The new 10.5-metre bus has been in production at MAN’s Polish city bus plant in Starachowice since the beginning of 2023. It offers 160 kW continuous or 240 kW peak power and will be equipped with NMC batteries. Either four or five packs will be installed on the roof. The capacity is 320 kilowatt-hours (250 kWh usable) for up to 235 kilometres range or 400 kilowatt-hours (320 kWh usable) for up to 300 kilometres range.

MAN is not the first manufacturer to electrify its portfolio. Last year Daimler Buses announced its intention to offer only electric city buses in Europe from 2030. At least in Europe. Daimler Buses announced the first fully electric intercity bus for 2025. And for the end of this decade, the manufacturer is planning coaches with fuel cell drives.

sustainable-bus.com (Euro 7), mantruckandbus.com (MAN Lion‘s City 10 E)