First customer for Mercedes-Benz Citaro all-electric city bus

Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH will be the first customer for the fully-electric city bus from Mercedes-Benz.

Representatives of the Daimler subsidiary EvoBus GmbH and Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH have signed a corresponding memorandum of understanding.

The first vehicles will be delivered at the end of 2018, and then go into practical operation in the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan region in Germany as part of customer trials.

This means that the first examples of the fully-electric Mercedes-Benz city bus will remain close to home – as they are produced in Mannheim. Apart from the delivery of vehicles, the two partners have agreed to closely exchange their findings during day-to-day regular service operations.

Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses, said: "Our bestselling Mercedes-Benz Citaro is built in the EvoBus plant in Mannheim, our Centre of Competence for city buses. Naturally, this also applies to the electric version, which we are currently preparing for series production.

“I am therefore pleased that our first customer for the fully - electric city bus also comes from the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan region, In the very proximity to our location, the cooperation with Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH enables us to gather important findings about the daily operation of our fully-electric Citaro and for the urban public transport of the future.”