Following Gdynia, the city of Wroclaw has now also opted for the electric variant of the classic Mercedes-Benz city bus. Representatives of MPK Wroclaw (Miejskiego Przedsiębiorstwa Komunikacyjnego sp. z o.o.) and EvoBus Polska, in the presence of the Chairman of the City Council of Wroclaw, Sergiusz Kmiecik, and Roman Biondi, Head of Sales Daimler Buses, concluded a contract on March 8, 2022 for the delivery of 11 fully electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G articulated buses. The official signing took place in Wroclaw at the headquarters of the Mercedes-Benz service partner, the Wróbel Group. The vehicles are to be delivered to the municipal transportation company in the third quarter of 2023.

Second-generation nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries (NMC) will feed the electric motors of the 11 new eCitaro G buses. This battery technology is equally suitable for depot and high-power charging and has already proven itself in many major European cities. Thanks to the high battery capacity of 396 kWh, the public transportation company can adapt the use and charging strategy of the vehicles to its individual needs. In the future, vehicles will be charged using a pantograph both in the depot and on the routes themselves.

One advantage of the eCitaro is intelligent thermal management, which has a significant positive influence on the operating range both in summer and winter. In addition to the automatic temperature control system for the vehicle interior, the thermal management system also integrates battery temperature management. The heating and air conditioning system is based on a CO2 heat pump connected to a water circuit. Thanks to the heat pump, the energy consumption is reduced compared with electrically operated side wall heaters with blowers, and the operating range increases in winter.

The Citaro, which provides the platform for the eCitaro, has been familiar to the population of Wroclaw as a modern scheduled-service bus for years. Like its conventionally powered counterpart, the eCitaro will continue to meet high standards in the interior and exterior. These include the ergonomic arrangement of seats and handrails, a space for strollers and wheelchairs, an air conditioning system, a comprehensive passenger information system with several monitors, integrated ticket machines and card terminals as well as USB ports for charging mobile devices. To make pedestrians and cyclists more aware of the silent eCitaro, the Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) generates an artificial background noise up to a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, similar to that of a fuel-powered vehicle. In addition, the eCitaro buses are equipped with a fire alarm system in the drive compartment as standard.