• The first three eCitaro buses have been presented to the public
• The "battery bus era" has landed in Hesse's capital
• Of the 56 units ordered, ten will be delivered this year

Stuttgart / Wiesbaden – The first fully-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro city buses were handed over on 18 November 2019 to ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH (or ESWE Verkehr for short) in Wiesbaden. The vehicles are part of a large-scale order for 56 units of the battery-powered city bus which is series-produced in Mannheim, Germany.

At the official vehicle presentation in front of politicians, members of the press, ESWE employees and interested members of the public, Till Oberwörder, Head of Daimler Buses, highlighted the importance of this order for Wiesbaden and Daimler Buses: "Each delivery of one of our fully-electric eCitaro buses is a further step towards sustainable and emission-free public transport. Our e-buses don't just make their mark on the current mobility shift, they also simultaneously ensure improved quality of life in our cities. We're also especially pleased that ESWE Verkehr has successively begun replacing its fleet with electric vehicles from Daimler Buses – that's a major show of trust in our electrically-powered eCitaro and our comprehensive E-mobility system as a whole."

The delivery schedule of the 56 eCitaro vehicles will see a further seven units delivered to ESWE Verkehr this year. The remaining vehicles are planned for 2020. With their electric-bus switch-over plan, ESWE Verkehr and the city of Wiesbaden are moving closer towards achieving their ambitious aim of being the first town in Germany to implement the vision of emission-free public transport. The consultancy team at Daimler Buses eMobility Consulting are assisting ESWE in the conversion of their fleet to electromobility solutions.

This handover of the fully-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro is proof of how Daimler Trucks & Buses is moving a step closer toward its aim of only supplying new vehicles equipped with tank-to-wheel CO₂-neutral drive systems from 2039 in the European, Japanese and NAFTA markets.