21 MAN electric buses enter service in Munich

The Bavarian capital Munich is putting 21 new electric articulated buses into regular service for the Munich Transport Company (MVG) over the next few days. The public transport provider is celebrating the service with zero tailpipe emissions as a further step toward its goal of 100 per cent emission-free services.

The buses in question are the 21 MAN Lion’s City E articulated buses ordered about a year ago. According to MVG, MAN was the most economically advantageous supplier at the time and was thus able to win the tender. With the electric buses already in place, MVG’s electric bus fleet has grown to 47 vehicles.

“This number is the largest tranche of electric buses MVG has ever taken delivery of,” explains Ingo Wortmann, MVG CEO and SWM Managing Director Mobility.

The buses are being subsidized at a rate of 62 per cent. The funds have been provided by the Munich government, the Upper Bavarian government, the Bavarian state ministry (air pollution control program) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection as part of the special ‘Energy and Climate Fund’.

The MAN Lion’s City E is equipped with a 640 kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt battery and has a range of 250 kilometres. The batteries are installed on the roof of the vehicle. MGV says the new electric articulated buses feature a modern and redesigned interior. The public transport provider points out that, since the engine tower installed in diesel buses is eliminated, there is more space for the rearmost rows “and at the same time a more airy feeling of space.”

Another 14 articulated electric buses from manufacturer Ebusco are expected this year, bringing the fleet to 61 electric buses by the end of the year. By 2035, MVG plans to run its bus services entirely on electric power. Like MAN, Ebusco also supplies 18-meter articulated buses.

Orders for 71 new electric buses, to be delivered between spring 2024 and spring 2025, were awarded by Stadtwerke München to Daimler Buses, Ebusco and MAN at the beginning of August. In November 2022, the Moosach bus depot was also opened, where up to 56 electric buses can be charged.

swm.de (in German)