Ebusco (Euronext: EBUS), a pioneer and frontrunner in the development of electric buses and charging systems, starts delivery of the first Ebusco 3.0 from serial production. It concerns 12-meter buses that will hit the road in the Hilversum region for Transdev. The delivery marks a new phase towards a production capacity of 3,000 buses per year.
With the delivery, Transdev has a Dutch premiere. Made of composite, the Ebusco 3.0 is an absolute game changer in the bus industry. With its lightweight body, the bus is known for its extremely low energy consumption and high range. As the batteries are integrated into the floor, the bus has a low centre of gravity with excellent road handling and optimum comfort. It’s not the first time Transdev takes the road with Ebusco buses: in 2020, Transdev already added 156 Ebusco 2.2 buses to its Dutch fleet.
Manu Lageirse, CEO at Transdev Nederland, comments: “With the Ebusco 2.2 buses, we already save around 15 million kilograms of CO2 every year. We are very proud to take another big step forward in our sustainability strategy by adding the Ebusco 3.0 to our fleet. We have already tested the Ebusco 3.0 extensively and are delighted to finally welcome our passengers in this sustainable bus.”
High performance for optimal CO2 savings
Transdev can rely on extremely high performance with the Ebusco 3.0. The very first Ebusco 3.0 bus has already been running for over a year and a half on line 100 in downtown Munich. In practice, the energy consumption of this bus already proved to be over 30 per cent lower compared to its predecessor (the Ebusco 2.2). At Transdev, the Ebusco 3.0 buses will travel an average of about 110,000 kilometers a year. As a result, over the total contract period, more than 30 million kg of CO2 will be saved.
Launchpad for continued scale-up of production
In the next few months, the Ebusco 3.0 buses will be delivered in phases. Due to issues in the supply chain, the buses had been waiting for the final parts since the end of last year. The delivery of the first buses from serial production, therefore, marks an important tipping point in Ebusco’s ramp-up. In the medium term, the company is targeting a production capacity of 3,000 buses a year.
Bob Fleuren, COO at Ebusco, explains: “We are thrilled to deliver the first buses from serial production in the Netherlands. Besides the usual learning curve when starting a new production line, in particular issues in the supply chain caused the completion of the buses to take longer than expected. However, our team has worked extremely hard over the past few months and we are therefore proud that Transdev can now hit the road with the first Ebusco 3.0 bus. With this first series, a solid foundation has been established for our continued ramp-up, so we expect to make considerable progress in the next few months.”