In the Eastern transport region, eleven “eCitaro” e-buses from Mercedes-Benz are already running on Postbus AG’s regular services in the southern Weinviertel in Lower Austria. The Stadtbetriebe Steyr (SBS) has been testing the vehicle type on lines 2B (hospital), 2A (Resthof), 5 (Gleink – Stadtgut Steyr) and 8 (Christkindlsiedlung) since January 10th. The main focus of the test phase, which lasts until February 20th, is the daily range, energy consumption on lines with many stops and the heating of the car. “The current low outside temperatures now offer a good test environment,” says city bus operations manager Georg Stimeder from SBS. The test drives, in which passengers are transported free of charge, are used to select the type for a switch to electric buses.
