Bilbao, Spain, added a pair of new pure-electric 12m Irizar i2e buses to its fleet on 22 December, to operate on several routes.
Bilbao joins London, San Sebastian, Barcelona, the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona and Valencia in operating Irizar electric buses.
Six Irizar i2e buses make up France's first 100% electric route in Marseille.
In addition, Bayonne, Paris, Nice, Madrid, Malaga, Le Havre, Grenoble and others which will soon be added have carried out successful tests with Irizar i2e buses.
These silent, zero emission vehicles achieve a 200km range using sodium-nickel batteries to an electric motor, developing 1,500Nm and 180kW. The buses have regenerative braking.
They also have USB chargers and onboard fleet management systems.
Irizar has supplied the charging stations and the smart charging system, developed by JEMA (an Irizar Group company), which manages and optimises electricity consumption.
“With this purchase, Bilbobus becomes the city’s first road public transport to include electric vehicles in its fleet,” says Deputy Mayor and Councilman of the Transport and Environment Department, Alfonso Gil.
“Bilbao is once again at the vanguard of technological innovation in offering its services with a clear vocation, on the one hand, continuous improvement on the other, all to boost the region.”
This initiative “is part of the City Council´s commitment to the environment and sustainability, and the search for solutions to reduce transportation´s impact on the environment and to search for sustainable alternatives.”
