Daimler Buses is establishing a new wholly owned subsidiary: Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH specializes in designing and building e-infrastructure. Electrified buses can only achieve their full performance potential when they are embedded in a well-planned and coordinated system.
For this reason, existing expertise is being pooled in the subsidiary. Its stand-alone status and entrepreneurial freedom provide for fast growth and short decision-making processes, just like a start-up.
Dietrich Müller (51), former head of e‑systems at Daimler Buses, is taking over as managing director at Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH. Till Oberwörder, CEO of Daimler Buses, Mirko Sgodda, Head of Marketing, Sales and Customer Services at Daimler Buses and Dietrich Müller announced this at the UITP Global Public Transportation Summit in Barcelona.
The company will serve customers across Europe. In cooperation with partners, the entire e‑infrastructure will be supplied from a single source. Another highlight: If requested by customers, construction of the electrified depots will also be implemented independently of brands.
Till Oberwörder: “At Daimler Buses we have a clear e-roadmap with regard to our products. Our strategic approach to electrification goes far beyond the vehicle itself. Our customers not only require electric buses, but also complete solutions for operating e-fleets. We are a genuine trailblazer with our offerings and we are channeling this experience into our new subsidiary. With Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH, our desire is to further expand the business area and provide the unit with maximum entrepreneurial freedom within a dynamic market environment.”
Mirko Sgodda: “We can only drive forward the transformation together with our customers if we can offer a perfectly coordinated overall package of e-buses and ecosystem. We are already providing transport companies with complete turnkey e-systems today. In line with the growing number of electrically powered buses, however, the complexity of electric infrastructure is also increasing. The pooling of all activities into one powerful business unit is an important milestone in optimally shaping our service portfolio for the future.”
Turnkey electromobility from a single source
Transport companies need a holistic approach to e-mobility. This is the only way to ensure smooth operation of electrically powered buses. In cooperation with the experts from Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH, Daimler Buses can supply the entire e-system from a single source on request: from the custom-configured electric bus to the complete e-infrastructure for the depot, including construction measures, electrical installations, chargers, battery storage facilities, charging management systems, and other digital services. As a next step, the portfolio will be additionally expanded to include services covering all aspects of the infrastructure required to operate buses with hydrogen-based fuel cell drives or range extenders.
Experienced consultants work with transport companies to determine where electrification should start and where it is most needed. Using a specially developed simulation program, the experts carry out feasibility studies based on customer-specific data, use them to create individual operating and charging concepts, and implement them on site.
Dietrich Müller, Managing Director of Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH: “We need to continuously develop our existing e-infrastructure service portfolio and scale it to meet demand. This will enable us to continue providing our customers with innovative solutions for their individual requirements. With the Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH, we have created the ideal conditions for this.”
Daimler Buses’ e-roadmap
The purely battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro city bus has been in series production since 2018. From 2023, the vehicle will also be available with a hydrogen-based fuel cell as a range extender. In addition, by 2030 Daimler Buses aims to offer battery or hydrogen-based CO2-neutral models in every segment. The initial focus will be on the core markets of Europe and Latin America. By 2039, only locally CO2-neutral new vehicles are to be sold in the core market of Europe. In the city bus segment, this is to be the case in Europe as early as 2030.
With regard to the other segments: Daimler Buses plans to launch the first all-electric intercity bus from the second half of the decade and, by the end of this decade, coaches with hydrogen-based fuel cell drives. In addition, as part of the “ELCH” (Electrified Coach) funding project sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), work is also being carried out together with partners from science and industry on battery-electric touring coaches planned to be launched by the end of the decade.
