Econnect Germany -Testing of an Electric Minibus Designed for Public Transportation

Within the econnect project （funded by the German Ministry of Economics and Technology）, a battery electric passenger bus on the basis of a Mercedes Sprinter City 65 has been tested on public roads. Driving without local emissions, high energy efficiency and reduced energy costs are the main advantages of electric drivetrains. Otherwise the limited energy content of the battery reduces range and availability of electric propelled vehicles. Passenger buses in public transportation systems are usually driving on inner-urban routes and have an average driving speed of app. 20 km/h. Next to that breaks at the end of service offer the possibility to recharge the battery so that the average daily driving distance can be easily covered by electric buses. This paper presents the results of test drives on urban and extra-urban bus routes for the electric bus and a second bus with a conventional diesel engine.