ELCH Project: Daimler Buses Explores Electric Tour Buses
The partners in the Electrified Coach, or ELCH, funding project have reached a milestone: recently, the team led by Daimler Buses gathered in Neu-Ulm. The highlight was a test drive using the jointly developed technology platform, which can travel up to 500 kilometers. The funding project will continue until the end of 2026.
Image: Daimler Truck
In a few years, Daimler Buses plans to offer fully electric tour buses under its Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands. To accelerate development, Daimler Buses joined forces with research institutions and industry experts in 2022 for the Electrified Coach project — abbreviated as ELCH. From the outset, the project, supported by the federal government, aimed to develop a modular powertrain. The insights gained from building the analog demonstration vehicles were intended to serve as the foundation for electric series-produced tour buses.
Daimler Buses confirms in its latest statement that it has made progress with its project partners in developing and finalizing a market-ready battery-electric coach concept. “In addition to propulsion and batteries, factors such as energy consumption, aerodynamics, lightweight design, cost-effectiveness, and practical usability in coach transportation are also at the forefront,” said the company based in Stuttgart. “The results of this project serve as an important foundation for further electrification of the coach segment at Daimler Buses.”
The joint test drive in Neu-Ulm was aimed at testing and validating the technical concepts under real-world conditions. Additionally, the project partners used the meeting to discuss the progress made so far and coordinate the next steps toward completing the project.
Daimler Buses is coordinating this funding project together with renowned research and industry partners. The consortium includes the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, ITIV Institute), the University of Mannheim (MISES), the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) with its iMAD and SAM institutes, as well as Flix SE.
The KIT contributes to the project primarily with its expertise in analyzing and processing vehicle data, working on optimizing the operating strategy of electric tour buses. Researchers at RPTU are exploring opportunities in lightweight design and aerodynamics to further improve energy consumption and range. MISES focuses on assessing the cost-effectiveness of battery-electric tour bus concepts for various usage scenarios and analyzing their competitiveness. Flix, on the other hand, provides real-world operational and usage data from long-distance bus services to support the development of practical application and driving cycles.
The project makes a significant contribution to Daimler Buses’ electrification strategy, says the consortium leader. The goal is to offer battery-electric tour buses by the end of the decade. “The insights gained from this project serve as an important foundation for further developing corresponding vehicle concepts and technologies.”