Mercedes-Benz Delivers 2 of 8 Planned Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid Buses

In brief: Mercedes-Benz has delivered 2 of a planned 8 Citargo G BlueTec Hybrid transit buses to the Dresden Transport Company in Germany.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid
Manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz

The word

The Dresden Transport Company, which operates public transportation in Dresden, Germany, received the first two buses and is expecting six more before year's end.

The Citaro G BlueTec has a downsized diesel engine acting as a generator to charge lithium-ion battery packs on the rooftop of the bus. Motors situated in each of four wheel hubs power the bus with a total output of 320kW.

This overall configuration lowers the bus engine's size by a little more than half and cubic litres by about the same. The batteries are less than the lost engine weight, so the overall bus is actually lighter than its diesel counterpart by about 200kg.

DTC and Mercedes expect the buses to get up to 60% better fuel economy.

And so ...

Similar hybrids are in North America as the Orion brand, with about 3,000 of them on the roads of Canada and the U.S.

Photo credits: Mercedes-Benz