IVECO BUS has won its largest electric bus tender ever in the German market. It will supply 200 CROSSWAY Low Entry ELEC buses, which IVECO BUS recently launched at the Autocar Expo in Lyon, and 50 articulated E-WAY buses, all fully electric vehicles designed to support the customer’s energy transition. In addition, the agreement calls for other 330 vehicles and will include both URBANWAY Hybrid articulated city buses and CROSSWAY Low Entry intercity buses powered by FPT Industrial Cursor 9-litre engines compatible with select renewable fuels.
The contract awarded by the German 'BusGruppe purchasing group', a consortium comprising Verkehrsbetriebe Bachstein, CeBus, KVG Stade, Omnibusbetrieb von Ahrenschildt, Pülm Reisen and Reisebüro Schmidt, is a 5-year framework agreement. The total value of the agreement is estimated at up to 235 million euro. Jan Behrendt, Managing Director of Verkehrsbetriebe Bachstein, the company which was responsible for the tender, said: “The continuous modernization of the fleet and now also the entry into electromobility put us in a position to continue to develop in a mobility market characterized by increasing competition.” The CROSSWAY Low Entry ELEC buses and E-WAY electric will be equipped with high-energy-density 69.3 kWh NMC battery packs,
delivering 180 Wh/kg. The 150 18-meter URBANWAY Hybrid articulated buses and 180 12-meter CROSSWAY Low Entry intercity buses will have a 360 hp Euro VI Step E Cursor 9 engine compatible with XTL (X-To-Liquid) renewable fuels. IVECO BUS will equip the vehicles with custom options to meet the BusGruppe purchasing group’s specific requests, including cantilever seating, air conditioning, video surveillance, Wi-Fi, fuel-saving functions and USB charging ports. Deliveries of the buses will begin in 2025 and continue through to 2030. Domenico Nucera, President, Bus Business Unit, Iveco Group, commented: “This latest tender cements 2024 as an absolute record year for IVECO BUS. We are proud that the BusGruppe has placed its trust in IVECO BUS.”