VHH Hamburg has received 48 BEV buses from MAN (bringing e-bus fleet to 183 units)

Hamburger carrier VHH has just took delivery of 48 battery-electric buses by MAN, out of an order for 100 MAN e-buses (and 250 Daimler Buses-branded eCitaro) signed in March 2023. MAN Lion’s City E had already been purchased before that commission.

183 of around 750 buses are now emission-free in VHH’s fleet – almost one in four vehicles. Four of VHH’s 17 depots have already been converted to electric drives. The local transport company currently has 188 charging points for e-buses across all depots. The infrastructure is set to grow to over 300 charging points by the end of 2025. The e-bus fleet will grow to 278 vehicles by 2024.

The e-buses will be housed at Bergedorf, Schenefeld and Billbrook depots and will operate on lines 2, 3, X3, 21, 29, 124, 130, 135, 186, 230, 235 and 281, among many.

MAN electric buses for Hamburg

The wheelchair area, in the buses delivered in Hamburg, is particularly spacious thanks to external swing doors and now offers space for two wheelchairs. Air showers on the doors help to improve the temperature inside the coach. The stop request buttons are illuminated and features vibrating function.

Two vehicles have cameras instead of exterior mirrors. The operator is indeed trialling this technology in real operations.

The transformation of VHH fleet to e-buses is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV) with a total of 60 million euros as part of the ‘Directive for the promotion of alternative drive systems for buses in passenger transport’.

Lorenz Kasch, Managing Director of vhh.mobility, says: “Within just a few years, we have decarbonised almost a quarter of the fleet and built up the necessary infrastructure“

Anjes Tjarks, Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition, states: “In addition to the mobility transition, we also need the drive transition in order to achieve our climate targets in transport. We have therefore really picked up speed in this legislative period with the conversion of the municipal bus fleet, with almost a quarter of VHH and Hochbahn buses running without diesel, which will be obsolete by the end of the decade. We are also retrofitting the depots with modern, sustainable charging infrastructure. The new e-buses not only contribute to climate targets, make the air in our city cleaner and are quieter, they also offer more comfort, space and accessibility for passengers and thus provide a further incentive to switch to public transport.’