The Dutch passenger transport company Connexxion has placed an order with VDL Bus & Coach for 62 MidCity’s Electric and 40 VDL Citea’s LLE-120 Euro 6. This is the first major order for this vehicle, which was only recently added to the VDL portfolio. All the vehicles will be used in the ‘Noord-Holland Noord’ concession. This concession will become operational on the end of July 2018.
“With the introduction of the MidCity Electric, the smaller buses in ‘Noord-Holland Noord’ are now also zero emission. This is yet another step in our efforts to make public transport even more sustainable,” says Eric van Eijndhoven, Public Transport Director at Connexxion. The goal is to have half of all buses run zero emissions in the Noord-Holland Noord concession area by 2025. This order is a valuable addition in the transition to full zero emission public transport.
Ard Romers, director of VDL Bus & Coach Nederland, had this to say: “We aim to be the specialist in the field of E-Mobility. This smaller vehicle can be used for a broad range of purposes by our customers and is therefore an important addition to our zero-emission package. As a transition partner, VDL will also be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the vehicles and infrastructure. So we are very proud of this order, which is for a total of 102 buses.”
VDL MidCity Electric
In order to be able to offer custom solutions for any situation that meet the wishes and requirements of the transport operator during the transition to zero-emission public bus transport, VDL Bus & Coach is currently developing the MidCity Electric. This fully electric minibus with a length of 8 meters is not only ideally suited for making city centers emission-free but is also ideal for transport in sparsely populated areas. The bus has a lowered floor that provides easy access for regular passengers and wheelchair users. In addition, the wheel base extension allows great flexibility in the type and number of seats. The MidCity Electric features a 87 kWh battery with an action radius of up to 220 km. VDL Bus & Coach will introduce this new electric model in the course of 2018.