VDL Celebrates 50 Million Electric Kilometers Driven

The company expanded its offer with several High Energy battery pack options.

VDL Bus & Coach electric buses

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Feb 15, 2020 at 10:26am ET

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The Dutch bus manufacturer VDL Bus & Coach just reached a major milestone of 50 million electric kilometers (31 million miles) covered by its battery-electric buses.

Between 2015 and 2019, the company delivered some 670 electric buses to customers in over 40 cities in 10 countries, which stands for about 22% of the total number of over 3,000 EV buses registered in 10 European countries.

On average, each day the fleet adds another 130,000 km (80,800 miles).

"Electric Citeas cover more than 130,000 kilometres every day in many European cities and regions. The 50 million kilometres travelled electrically have saved 7 million kilograms of CO2 emissions. Transdev and Arriva cover most of the kilometres with the Citeas of VDL Bus & Coach. "

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Henk Coppens, CEO of VDL Bus & Coach said:

“Over the past year, we have further expanded our position in e-mobility and also strengthened it geographically. Our next steps in terms of further development are the further optimisation of energy consumption and the application of the next generations of batteries. In addition to the many operations that use fast charging, we also see the market’s need for greater range, especially now that more and more regional operations are also being electrified. We are also very much looking at expanding our sales area to southern Europe.”

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The foundation for VDL was the demand from its home market - so far 483 (or 72%) of all delivered electric buses were deployed in the Netherlands.

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"After the Netherlands, Scandinavia is the most important market for VDL Bus & Coach. New projects in Norway and Denmark and 2 projects in both Sweden and Finland bring the total to 120 electric buses in Scandinavia. “We are also seeing strong growth in Germany,” says De Jong. “Cities such as Osnabrück, Cologne and Münster are once again investing in our buses because we have proven to be a strong partner in recent years. As a result, a city like Kiel has also been convinced and ordered 36 electric Citeas. Our first e-buses are also in operation in Belgium, France and Switzerland.”"

New battery pack

To further improve the offer, VDL is introducing new, more energy-dense batteries as many customers need more capacity for longer range. The highest option exceeds 0.5 MWh.

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New High Energy packs:

315 kWh for the Citea LLE Electric
350 kWh for the Citea SLF and SLE Electric
420 kWh for the Citea SLFA Electric
525 kWh for the Citea XLE Electric

"VDL High Energy batteries
A quieter and cleaner city remains the goal of many cities and governments in Europe. A new battery pack, which will be added to the existing range, is the logical next contribution of VDL Bus & Coach to the liveable city and region.

The first orders for the High Energy batteries have already been received. These batteries have a capacity of 315 kWh for the Citea LLE Electric, 350 kWh for the Citea SLF and SLE Electric, 420 kWh for the Citea SLFA Electric and 525 kWh for the Citea XLE Electric. The battery packs are lighter than other batteries and because of the larger battery capacity on board, the buses can run for longer periods of time between charges.

The VDL High Energy batteries can also be charged quickly by means of a pantograph on the roof. “Primarily, of course, it is always possible to charge with the plug,” says Alex de Jong, Business Manager Public Transport. “The Citea Electric product range gives us even more opportunities to provide our customers with tailor-made solutions.”"

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