Citaro Hybrid Buses Deployed in Bremen

As one of the auto makers who are just beginning to act on turning the passenger cars it offers into electric or hybrid vehicles, the Daimler group is still at the front of the pack when it comes to the development and implementation of hybrid vehicles for mass transport.

Having been hard at work for years to develop hybrid buses, the German company is now getting ready to reap what it sow by starting the deployment of the first models from the new generation of hybrid buses.

For the first time, the streets of Bremen will be adorned with Daimler's new hybrids, embodied by the Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid. Only two models have been introduced for now, as a means to demonstrate how a hybrid bus can cover an entire route on electric power alone.

Packing one of the world's largest lithium-ion batteries in use today (a maximum output of 240 kW), the Citaro hybrids are powered by four electric wheel hub motors. Additional energy is generated through the use of other systems like braking recuperation or a generator driven by a small diesel engine.

Being only half the size of a conventional diesel engine for buses, the unit helps the Citaro achieve impressive electric range by cutting a lot of weight. The 4.8l diesel weighs 450 kg (usual weight is 1,000 kg), but develops 214 hp.

Weight reduction is also achieved in the battery that, despite its size, weighs only 350 kg. By comparison, says Daimler, the first batteries fitted into experimental hybrid buses three decades ago weighed three tons.