Volkswagen Truck & Bus (VWTB) has just confirmed that it will start production of its electric bus in 2024. The model, called e-Volksbus, is under development at VWTB’s world engineering center in Resende in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and draws on all the knowledge accumulated by the company in the five years of experience with the first 100% electric truck made in Brazil, the e-Delivery.
Both vehicles even have shared technologies and components to cope with the severe operating conditions in the country. This confirmation takes place at the “RJ Electromobility – New Energy Source and the Future of Road Transport by Bus in the State of Rio de Janeiro”, organized by the Department of Road Transport of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Detro-RJ), in partnership with the State Department of Transport and Urban Mobility (Setram). The meeting takes place on March 12 and 13, from 9 am to 5 pm, at the Remo da Lagoa Stadium, in the South Zone of the City of Rio de Janeiro.
“We are taking another step towards electromobility in urban transport. After accumulating sufficient mileage in tests with VWTB’s electric chassis and also with the first electric truck developed in the country, we will start production in the second half of 2024. This will be an important step to adapt the bus chassis in the production line”, says Rodrigo Chaves, Vice President of Engineering at Volkswagen Truck & Bus.
The first e-Volksbus tests began in May last year in line with the trends emerging in the automotive scenario for passenger transport. The model presented at the event has a capacity of 22 tons and a range of up to 250 km, with a night-time charging system to maximize productivity.
In addition, it comes with a regenerative braking system that maximizes battery life and reduces vehicle brake wear, and the Eco-Drive Mode system, which adjusts the vehicle’s energy consumption. Another advantage is that it has flood protection, making the product more suited to the operating realities in Brazil. It will also be equipped with a kneeling system for greater passenger accessibility and full air suspension. Still in the prototype phase, the model uses the exclusive modular architecture solution for building electric vehicles, and can produce anything from a nine-meter mini bus to a 23-meter super-articulated vehicle.
The configuration was designed by Volkswagen Truck & Bus Engineering in Brazil, which speeds up the adaptation to the different Volkswagen truck and bus platforms. The configuration allows the vehicle to be divided into three main modules: front module, center module and rear module.
[image credit: Roberto Marinho]
