• Order submitted following extensive testing from its cockpit to how easy the vehicle is to service
• Remarkable technical, comfort-related and safety features
• RVBW: 67 scheduled-service buses and unusual ideas

Wettingen/Stuttgart – Baden-Wettingen Regional Transport (Regionalen Verkehrsbetriebe Baden-Wettingen - RVBW) AG in the Swiss canton of Aargau is continuing to implement its e-strategy with ten Mercedes-Benz eCitaro vehicles. The locally CO2-neutral solo low-floor buses will be delivered next year. Daimler Buses as the general contractor will deliver the complete e-mobility system as a turnkey solution, including the entire charging infrastructure, charging management, and conversion measures. Extensive comparative tests preceded the order.

Order submitted following extensive testing from its cockpit to how easy the vehicle is to service

RVBW's ambitious objective is to be a climate neutral company by 2030. To this end the bus fleet will be completely converted to e-mobility. An essential component of this is the recently placed order for ten eCitaro. In addition to the solo low-floor buses, it also includes the complete charging infrastructure at the depot, including all the necessary reconstruction measures and the charging management system. This was preceded by extensive testing:

Drivers/workshop personnel and other employees at the company took a close look at the cockpit, the handling, the passenger compartment and how easy the vehicles are to service and repair as part of a competitor comparison.

Remarkable technical, comfort-related and safety features

The equipment for the RVBW's three-door buses are considerable. Five stacks of nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries with a total energy content of 490 kWh guarantee a long range. The batteries are charged in the depot using infrastructure-incorporated top-down pantographs and the high-power contact rail on the top of the vehicle. The Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) for audible environmental protection warns passers-by of the approach of the silent electric buses.

Passengers benefit from an interior that is as appealing as it is comfortable, with night lighting and double-glazed side windows. They are provided with information on a double TFT display in the front section. Another TFT screen above door two provides information about the route being traveled. Rapid-response swiveling-sliding doors at door positions two and three ensure that passengers can quickly disembark and embark at stops.

Drivers also receive maximum assistance for their work. This starts with an air-conditioned seating area and also includes video surveillance of the passenger compartment, an electrically adjustable inside rearview mirror, and a reversing camera.

RVBW: 67 scheduled-service buses and unusual ideas

Regionale Verkehrsbetriebe Baden-Wettingen (RVBW) AG operates twelve bus routes in the canton of Aargau together with contracted companies. Last year, the 67 buses covered a total of 4.2 million kilometers, serving 337 stops and transporting 11.2 million passengers. The publicly owned enterprise is a publicly traded company (AG) covering eight administrative municipalities. In 2018, RVBW adopted a fleet strategy, relying on fully electrically powered scheduled-service buses. The transport company also follows both unusual routes and ones that effectively serve the general public: For example, under professional guidance, prospective customers are also given the opportunity to try to drive a scheduled-service bus around a course, including a simulated stop, and even drive an articulated bus.