Flixbus is launching a BRATISLAVA – VIENNA route using an electric bus. 80 km, 66 trips per day

Flixbus launched the first medium-distance route in Central Europe operated by electric buses. Eight electric buses are already running between Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria) on a route approximately 80 kilometers long. The demand must be high, as there are a total of 66 trips per day, presumably 33 each way. The company was so confident in the vehicles that the route was launched on October 1 without a pilot phase.

Flixbus’s Electric Buses and Increasing Distances

Electric buses have been adopted fastest in cities where there is always the possibility of setting up high-power charging stations somewhere along the route. They are being tested cautiously for medium distances, and there are still none for long distances due to the balance between range, charging time, and business realities. Flixbus approached this issue cleverly by equipping terminal stops in both cities with chargers powered by solar energy stored in local energy storage units. In other words, once the investment costs are offset, electric buses have a chance to operate at no cost.

Every 100 kilometers of the route represents a reduction of about 66 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions, which also indicates that diesel buses consume an average of 25 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers. The road is relatively flat; it connects two airports, and according to a Flixbus spokesperson in the DACH countries, there is significant interest in taking these routes (source).

The services are operated using Yutong T12E electric buses with batteries holding 466 kWh of energy and a range of about 500 kilometers. These vehicles were purchased by the Austrian company Blaguss Gruppe, which acquired a total of 12 units, 8 of which will be used for the service in question. The purchase was partially funded by Austria’s Ministry of Transport and EU funds. Flixbus expects that similar implementations are no longer a question of “whether at all,” but rather “when/how quickly.” A similar view was expressed by Marcin Kucharski, president of Busnex, when he introduced us to the Yutong IC12E, a model related to the T12E.

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