There are no issues with the range when using the eCitaro in intercity transport, says Ewald Koller, Head of Technology at Österreichische Postbus AG, in Gänserndorf in Lower Austria, the Postbus site where the eCitaro is charged. Gänserndorf is located in the local wine region, where eleven Mercedes‑Benz eCitaro buses have been working on two routes in the Verkehrsverbund Ost‑Region (VOR) transport network since 2022 – with roaring success.

“The consistent overall concept is important”, says Koller as he talks about the use of electric buses in the rural wine region in eastern Austria, where the eCitaro buses operate on two bus routes. The buses run every hour or half hour on the Gänserndorf to Mistelbach and Gänserndorf to Wolkersdorf routes, and connect three regional train stations. The eCitaro has a daily mileage of around 300 kilometres per vehicle.

In view of this mileage, Verkehrsverbund and Postbus have opted for an intermediate charging concept. "In Gänserndorf, the eCitaro buses can be charged by pantograph with a charging capacity of up to 300 kW in just under 30  minutes. That's why the range of the eCitaro, equipped with an NMC2 battery, didn't matter", says Ewald. But: “Bigger batteries mean more weight”, he adds with a laugh. He explains that the decision for intermediate charging concept in Gänserndorf was primarily made for economic reasons.

A consistent deployment concept must take into account all individual requirements on site, which is why it took around two years to get the eCitaro buses on the roads in Lower Austria. During test drives of the new electric scheduled-service vehicles, the necessary charging infrastructure was created at the depot and the pantographs for intermediate charging were erected in parallel. The electric buses are charged at the depot overnight. “The infrastructure part of the concept is more extensive than for the diesel buses”, says Koller, emphasising that the implementation of such projects requires close cooperation between transport companies, energy suppliers and bus manufacturers.

A well-oiled infrastructure and the right concept reliably keeps the electric buses on the road, as can be seen in the wine region. The eCitaro buses at Postbus travel around 100,000 kilometres each year in this use case. The company also benefits from a hassle-free maintenance and repair service with the OMNIplus eServiceContract ePremium. All work on the vehicle and high-voltage system, including wear repairs, is carried out at the Daimler Buses Service Centre in Wiener Neudorf - a true all-round hassle-free package. No wonder, then, that the initial slight scepticism has long since become a thing of the past and the eCitaro buses are now a firm fixture of the local transport system in the wine region. “Electromobility is the future for local transport”, says Ewald Koller.