Daimler Truck has celebrated the build of its 1 000th eCitaro electric low-floor bus for city use, available in fixed and articulated variants. Now, the Mannheim plant is gearing up for the hydrogen variant of the eCitaro, which uses a fuel cell as a range extender.

The Mercedes-Benz eCitaro has been in production since 2018, with the only option at launch being a fixed body bus with a 243 kWh battery, allowing for a range of around 200 km.

An articulated version, the eCitaro G, was added in 2020, while the battery received an upgrade in 2022, adding 50 percent extra capacity for a new range of up to 280 km for the fixed body version.

Bigger battery and fuel cell range extender

The eCitaro is mainly used in German cities, but other European countries have also placed orders for the e-bus. Now, a longer-range version is ready for production. It uses a hydrogen fuel cell as a range extender, enabling a range of 350 km in the articulated eCitaro G while offering space for 128 passengers. This range should cover nearly all public transport operations for this city bus.

This 60 kW hydrogen fuel cell comes from Toyota. It charges the 392 kWh battery pack when needed, but doing so at a charging station is still the primary power source, as electricity is cheaper than green hydrogen. Daimler Truck also points out that larger batteries allow more energy recovery while braking, which aids efficiency.

The Mercedes-Benz eCitaro fuel cell is available from June 2023 as an articulated bus, although Daimler Truck hints at more variants coming soon. By 2030, only electric and hydrogen Mercedes-Benz buses will be offered.