ŠKODA Transport Group presented its new E'City trolleybus at the Czech Bus Show in Prague. This fully electric bus can carry 69 passengers, 28 seats, and uses the chassis of Skoda's Turkish partner Temsa. Their first client was the Prague City Transport Authority (DPP).
According to reports, the DPP has ordered 14 E'City buses from Skoda Transportation Group, which will be used mainly on lines 154 and 213. The first electric trolleybus should arrive in Prague before the end of the year, and the remaining 13 will arrive in February 2022.
For technical details-Skoda Transportation (and its subsidiary Skoda Electric) does not belong to the Volkswagen Group (ie Skoda Auto), but belongs to the PPF Group of the Czech company Petr Kellner. Nevertheless, they have the same roots as the luxury car brand Rolls-Royce and the aircraft engine manufacturer of the same name before they parted ways.
In order to develop the new E'City bus, Skoda turned to Temsa, a Turkish manufacturer linked to the PPF Group. Temsa manufactures bus bodies in Turkey, while Skoda provides electric drives, including batteries and pantographs. They also assemble and test all vehicles at the Skoda plant in Pilsen, Czech Republic. As far as Temsa is concerned, it launched two electric buses in 2019. However, Zdeněk Majer, Senior Vice President of Sales at Skoda, clarified that Temsa's role in the development of E'City was only subcontracted. “Based on the findings of the previous project, we recommend specific modifications to the existing solutions provided by our sister company for their vehicles, so the production of the bodywork is carried out in Turkey,” he explained.
Skoda Transportation has not disclosed actual performance data. However, the specifications show a length of 12 meters and a width of 2.55 meters. The E'City bus is 3.3 meters high and is a low-floor bus with a wheelbase of 5.8 meters. The propulsion power comes from an electric drive of 160 kilowatts, and its operating speed can reach 80 km/h. There is no information about the battery capacity, but Skoda guarantees that "it can travel more than 100 kilometers during the entire battery life." However, as a trolleybus, the battery power range is secondary-the pantograph provides up to 150 kilowatts of intermediate charging throughout the journey, and Prague has already laid overhead lines for ordinary trams. In addition, the vehicle can also be cable-charged at the depot at night.
The battery also powers the air conditioner, and Skoda points to the modern passenger information system, the camera system used to monitor the interior, and automatic passenger counting.
As for the operator DPP, Skoda E'City is the first model the company will own, rather than renting out other models like they did during testing. DPP Chairman and CEO Petr Witowski explained that the latter has been going on for several years and has caused some difficulties to the charging infrastructure. However, "we are ready to operate," he added. In addition to overhead lines, the company has installed pantograph chargers at the trolleybus terminals in Strašnická and Želivského.
Prague’s goal is to reduce emissions by 20% by 2024; by 2030, one-third of public buses will run electric.
sustainable-bus.com, skoda.cz (Czech PI)
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