Electrifying Europe: the tour begins!
At dawn the engines start up, as quiet as a whisper. Fully charged with fresh energy, the MAN Lion's City 12 E sets off.
MAN Truck & Bus
Eight countries in ten days. More than 2,500 kilometres across Europe. It starts in Munich, with stops along the way in Innsbruck, St. Moritz, Zurich, Vaduz, Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Brussels, Rouen, Cherbourg, until the final stop in Limerick. These are the key dates of MAN’s “Electrifying Europe Tour”, which starts on 29 April 2022 in Munich and ends on 8 May 2022 in Limerick in Ireland, where the “International Bus Euro Test 2022” will take place from 9 to 12 May 2022. MAN will be taking part with the Lion’s City 12 E electric bus.
The Lion’s City 12 E is also the star of our trip. With this tour, MAN wants to show that you can already travel throughout Europe in a way that is reliable, suitable for everyday use and completely emission-free. To do this, the team visits big cities, drives through picturesque landscapes and even crosses an Alpine pass. In other words, the MAN Lion’s City 12 E proves itself to always be sustainable and reliable on the road in a wide range of conditions. And that there is even enough energy in its battery for a trip over the mountains.
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Familiar territory: It all starts in Munich, because this is where MAN's headquarters are located. Since 1955, the city on the Isar has been the home of the trucks and buses with the lion in the grill. And this is also where the vehicles of the future with electric drive are built. The MAN eBus is then produced in the Polish city bus plant in Starachowice.
One city – one lake. When the evening light turns the mountains pink, the people of Zurich spend their evening working hours walking or jogging along the shore. Car exhaust fumes and engine noise are only a nuisance here. How good that the MAN Lion's City 12 E leaves behind neither noise nor stench.
Low temperatures affect battery performance. The road trip is challenging for the electric bus thanks to mountain stages, city traffic and changing weather. But the team will get everything out of it.
Brussels is not only the political centre of Europe, but also the location of Busworld Europe. It is one of the largest bus trade fairs – and incidentally also the oldest! Until recently, however, it was held in Kortrijk.
The MAN Lion's City 12 E passes very close to a flock of sheep, but not one of the animals raises its head. Animal ignorance? Possibly. Or maybe the bus is just too quiet.
In the coming days, you will find up-to-date travel reports, background information on e-buses, as well as photos and videos of the tour on this page. Every morning from 11 a.m., we will report in detail here on the previous day’s experiences. We will start tomorrow, with a report from today’s journey from Munich to Innsbruck.
Destinations of the daily stages
From 9 May, it’s a case of keeping your fingers crossed, as our Lion’s City 12 E will be competing for the crown at the International Bus Euro Test 2022.
The test has a long tradition: since 1989, an international jury of experts has awarded the titles “Bus of the Year” and “Coach of the Year” to bus and coach models in alternating years. The main focus of the European trade journalists is on the practical suitability and the concept idea of the vehicles, which are provided by the manufacturers for the comparative test. This year, the focus is on battery-powered city buses.
'90 PER CENT OF OUR cityBUSES WILL BE ELECTRIC BY 2030'
Rudi Kuchta is "Mr. Bus" at MAN. In the video interview he talks about the status of e-mobility at MAN and what sets the Lion's City E apart. And he reports on what the next steps will be for MAN electric buses.
Text Christian Buck
Photos MAN
