Future-proof MAN solutions seen at UITP
Future-proof MAN solutions seen at UITP
From A for automation to Z for zero-emission: MAN Truck & Bus presented smart solutions for the urban transport of today and tomorrow at this year’s UITP Global Public Transport Summit. The star of the company’s stand in Barcelona was the all-electric Lion’s City 10 E.
Sustainable solutions in public transport are more in demand than ever. The Paris Climate Agreement demands that global warming be limited to well below 2°C. In addition, Europe is to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
“The climate crisis is considered one of the biggest and most important challenges facing the global community and poses major challenges for politicians, transport operators, and also for us,” says Barbaros Oktay, head of bus at MAN Truck & Bus. “At MAN, we are convinced that the future belongs to emission-free vehicles. That’s why we are consistently moving towards sustainable public transport and are fully committed to electric drive – and our MAN Lion’s City E,” he adds.
In keeping with this, MAN Truck & Bus displayed the Lion’s City 10 E, the latest model in the MAN electric bus family, at this year’s UITP Global Public Transport Summit, which took place in Barcelona from 4 to 7 June. The UITP Global Public Transport Summit is the world’s largest event dedicated to sustainable urban mobility, bringing together all transport modes, authorities, and operators, as well as exhibitors.
The midibus version, with a length of 10.5m, has been in production at MAN’s Polish city bus plant in Starachowice since the beginning of 2023. Among other things, the compact size of the all-electric city bus attracted attention. It plays to the strengths of the bus, especially in the increasing use of customer-oriented “on-demand” services and as an amplifier at high-frequency times, as well as a manoeuvrable city centre shuttle. After all, the city bus has a similar passenger capacity to many 12-m solo buses, but is much more manoeuvrable and requires significantly less traffic space in narrow city centres and depots.
Lion’s City E is Bus of the Year 2023
The Lion’s City 10 E is based on the construction kit of its big brother, the Lion’s City 12 E, which 23 European trade journalists voted International Bus of the Year 2023 last year in Limerick, Ireland. They were particularly enthusiastic about the overall concept of the city bus, which scores points for its range, reliability, comfort, and above all, sustainability. It is precisely this overall concept that makes the MAN eBus, which is also available in an 18-m version, so popular with operators, drivers, and passengers. In the meantime, the eBus is successfully in use all over Europe.
Incidentally, the width, height, and overhangs of the Lion’s City 10 E have remained unchanged from the Lion’s City 12 E, as has the concept of the engine tower-free rear, which provides four more seats (maximum 33 seats and 80 passengers in total) than the few competitors in the segment. The body was “shortened” exclusively between the axles, where a window module was removed. The result: the overall length was reduced to 10.5m and around 350kg of weight were saved. Despite this significant shortening, there is still room for a wheelchair or pram in the standing platform. A third door is also possible, in which case there are still 29 seats available, while passenger flow is once again significantly improved.
360° consultation and digital services for the switch to eMobility
In addition to future-proof vehicles, MAN Truck & Bus also relies on a highly qualified team of more than 75 eMobility experts throughout Europe and employee training courses with a focus on new technologies, as well as all-round consultation for customers switching to eMobility.
Since 2018, the MAN Transport Solutions team has been offering support to customers in many industries to convert their fleets to zero-emission vehicles. This involves looking at the entire process of the changeover with a 360° analysis. The aim is to ensure the successful changeover to electromobility with as little effort as possible for the operators. In total, the team has already successfully completed more than 250 projects in 19 European countries in the truck, bus, and van sectors, building up an enormous amount of know-how in the process.
MAN pushes bus automation
Another topic that played an essential role in the transformation of the transport sector at the UITP Summit was automation.
“The fact that urban bus mobility in the future will not only be emission-free and connected, but also automated, is not a general question, but merely a question of time,” says Oktay. MAN Truck & Bus is therefore pushing ahead with bus automation. Together with Mobileye, the specialist for autonomous driving technology, MAN is consistently pursuing its roadmap to the goal of highly automated driving in city buses that are ready for series production.
The first joint project of MAN and Mobileye is the pilot operation of the first automated city bus with a safety driver, planned from 2025 as part of the MINGA research project in Munich.
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