Nantes Metropolitan Region orders 70 Heuliez electric buses
The selected models are the twelve-metre-long GX 337 ELEC and the 18-metre-long GX 437 ELEC from the Heuliez brand. Around 30 electric solo buses are due to go into operation between the end of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, with the 18-metre buses coming on board successively from 2027. The order for the electric buses is being financed by Nantes Métropole with a budget of 62 million euros before tax. In the future, they will be operated by the transport company Semitan (‘Société d’économie mixte des transports en commun de l’agglomération nantaise’), a semi-public company 65 per cent of which is owned by Nantes Métropole and 35 per cent by private individuals. One of the private shareholders is Transdev.
The Heuliez electric buses will operate on the Naolib network (formerly the TAN network), which connects the city of Nantes and 24 neighbouring municipalities. The network consists of three tram lines, two busway lines, eight Chronobus lines, 49 regular bus lines, four Luciole night lines, four on-demand services and three river lines. The total fleet comprises 543 vehicles, including 153 standard buses, 263 articulated buses and 36 minibuses. 94 per cent of this fleet currently runs on natural gas and 6 per cent is electric.
The 70 new electric buses will further increase the proportion of electric vehicles. According to Iveco, the 12 and 18 metre long GX ELEC buses are equipped with NMC batteries from FPT Industrial and have a capacity of 69.3 kWh. The motor delivers 310 kW in the solo bus and 375 kW in the articulated bus.
“With the acquisition of these new electric buses, Semitan continues to support Nantes Métropole in its desire for an energy transition towards more sustainable mobility,” says Pascal Bolo, President of Semitan. “For the company, this represents a challenge in terms of project management and maintenance, on one hand, to adapt the existing technical and operations centers to this new energy source without disrupting the daily operations of the Naolib network, and, on the other hand, to maintain these new vehicles, involving an evolution of technical skills within Semitan.”
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