Piedmont region receives the first four eCitaro K vehicles

Italian public transport operator Asti Servizi Pubblici (ASP) has received the first Mercedes-Benz eCitaro K vehicles to be built since the start of series production in autumn 2024. The four electric buses were handed over together with twelve 12-metre eCitaro as part of a tender.

It was only in September 2024 that the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro K celebrated its world premiere – a 10.6-metre short version of the classic eCitaro electric solo bus. Five months later, the first four units have now been delivered to ASP for use in the Italian city of Asti. With a turning circle of just 17.28 metres, the four compact electric buses, which are only 10.63 metres long, are “particularly suitable for application in local public transport with narrow, winding routes in the city centre and suburbs of Asti.”

Like the 12-metre version, the eCitaro K is available with four to six NMC battery packs of 98 kWh each, which means up to 588 kWh capacity in the maximum configuration. According to Daimler Buses, Asti Servizi Pubblici has opted for the maximum number of battery packs for the compact models.

In addition to the four eCitaro K vehicles, the public transport company from the north-west Italian region of Piedmont has also taken delivery of 12 eCitaro vehicles in the 12-metre version. A thirteenth eCitaro was ordered in the autumn of 2024. All of them were ordered with a maximum of six battery packs (588 kWh). That means that ASP will have a total of 17 new battery-electric buses available in future. Incidentally, the electric buses are charged overnight by cable at the Italian transport company’s depot.

The eCitaro K buses can transport a total of 81 passengers (26 seated and 54 standing, as well as one wheelchair space). The 13 eCitaro 12-metre solo buses are designed to carry a maximum of 77 passengers on longer routes. Each bus has 30 seats, 46 standing places and one wheelchair space.

As Daimler Buses also announces, the Bus Data Centre has already been installed as standard in the new eCitaro for Asti as an interface to the digital services from Omniplus on board. The Omniplus On Uptime pro service, for example, is used in the Italian region of Piedmont to improve the availability of the fleet. Fault messages and important diagnostic information are transmitted to the workshop in real-time in order to reduce service times.

daimlertruck.com