Four all-electric buses have begun operating in Barcelona as part of an extended trial within the EU-funded ZeEUS project. Two different models are being tested on Barcelona’s streets, one manufactured in Spain and the other in Poland. The four buses meet the requirements set by the city’s public transport operator, Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona (TMB).
They can operate for 16 hours at a time without refuelling, and feature reserved spaces for disabled travellers, air conditioning and on-board information systems. Barcelona’s bus fleet is among the most environmentally sustainable in Europe. It includes 411 buses fuelled by CNG and 130 hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, it has introduced high-performance filters to reduce the emissions from diesel vehicles.
A total of 35 electric buses made by six European manufacturers will be tested in cities participating in the ZeEUS project. As well as Barcelona, the other cities involved in the project are Plzeň (Czech Republic), Bonn and Münster (Germany), Cagliari (Italy), Stockholm (Sweden), and Glasgow and London (United Kingdom).
Original author: Lewis Macdonald
