Up to 75 electric buses with fuel cell range extenders are to be delivered by Daimler Buses under the order from existing client Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV), a German transportation company.

RNV claims that the new buses will enable operations to move into a new stage of electrification. Heidelberg is the service region, and RNV requests 40 eCitaro G with range extenders from Daimler Buses between 2023 and 2024. There is also a possibility for an additional 35 articulated buses by 2027.

Daimler Buses anticipated the 2022 availability of the fuel cell range extender option when it unveiled the 18-meter bus in 2020. Now, six battery packs (NMC3) provide a 392 kWh battery capacity. For a combined range of more than 300 kilometers, the supplementary fuel cell stack transforms hydrogen from six tanks (30 kg) into power.

RNV will start working on the hydrogen bus depot in Heidelberg in the next days to begin recharging the batteries and hydrogen tanks. The depot will house 27 bus parking and charging spaces as well as a public hydrogen station from H2 Mobility Deutschland. Operations will begin the following year.