MAN Truck & Bus
MAN buses gleaming in their EC design
Three cities These specially adorned buses are under way from June in Cologne, Hamburg and Munich.
Eye-catchers in the “Black-Red-Gold” look: since the beginning of June, these special buses have been travelling around Cologne, Hamburg and Munich, the venue for the Euros and MAN’s home city. These urban buses in their DFB team bus design are doing their rounds and captivating residents and visitors. MAN is relying on a mixture of four different drive systems. “Our innovative buses and in particular the fully-electric MAN Lion’s City E are a perfect fit for this sporting event”, states Heinz Kiess, head of Product Marketing Bus. So the motto “Germany drives MAN” is not only for the German national team: “Our objective is to make the joy surrounding this tournament visible and to give everyone the chance to climb aboard a special bus”, Kiess continues.
An eco-friendly journey to the match
MAN has had a connection with football for over a decade. This includes not only its partnerships with various professional clubs like FC Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund and its collaboration with the DFB, but also the daily deployment of buses in the public transport network: “Hundreds, if not thousands of urban buses and coaches across Europe transport fans to their club’s stadium on match days. Alongside underground and regional trains, buses are therefore the most important modes of transport to the arenas”, stresses MAN Truck & Bus communications manager Pietro Zollino. “Buses and all other means of public transport are also a genuine alternative to private cars. Not only do fans avoid traffic jams before and after the match, but it also makes them aware of their ecological footprint when attending such major events.”
All the more reason for MAN to rely on the fully-electric Lion’s City E in its deployment of urban buses for the European Championship: these fully-electric urban buses from MAN are already proving how suitable they are for everyday use and what they can achieve in scheduled operation in Munich, Hamburg and Cologne, but also in numerous other European conurbations.
Innovation for 50 years
The Lion`s City E is certainly MAN’s newest urban bus, but it’s not the first e-bus to have been deployed at a major sporting event. MAN had already recognised the advantages of electric mobility as early as the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. In those days it produced its 750 HO-M10 E, which was one of the first ever e-buses. “Electric buses were travelling without any local emissions even then. Nowadays the MAN Lion’s City E is providing impressive evidence that electric mobility is suitable for everyday use – and a genuine alternative for public transport”, Pietro Zollino explains.
That model from the 1970s, which could only achieve a range of around 50 kilometres, paved the way for a new technology. Today, almost fifty years later, the MAN Lion’s City E managed 550 kilometres within 24 hours in a practical test under real conditions – on just one battery charge.
This is a huge and significant step towards sustainable mobility, because this range means that even the stadiums in Europe's major cities, which are often located outside the centres, are no longer an obstacle for these electric buses.
“Our EC buses are dynamic, forward-looking and create enthusiasm wherever they go”, Heinz Kiess sums up. “And they’ll be taking the fans to their destinations in a safe, comfortable and above all eco-friendly manner.”
Early innovation As early as 1972, this e-bus reliably transported the athletes back and forth between the Olympic Park and Olympic Village – for up to 20 hours a day.
Text Creative Artists Agency GmbH
Photos Viscompark & Oinkflim
