Ilesbus debuted its battery-electric e-City low-floor minibus at Busworld. It is built on an Iveco Daily base vehicle and has 27 seats, with the show example coming directly to the UK shortly for demonstration.
An Elinta driveline and 108kW/h of battery storage is used in the e-City, which is PSVAR compliant. Three battery packs are distributed at the front, centre and rear. 700mm and one row of seats have been removed from the rear overhang compared to a diesel I-City Max to achieve the necessary weight balance.
Charging is via a CCS2 connection and a socket ahead of the door. It can accept DC power at up to 120kW and also an AC input. In the former case, an uplift in state of charge from 20% to 80% can be accomplished in around 30 minutes, the manufacturer says.
Ilesbus has built the first e-City in right-hand drive in recognition of expected demand in the UK, it adds, although interest in the model is strong from other European markets.
The Iveco drive axle is retained as part of the conversion and the vehicle comes with rear-view cameras, which the marque debuted earlier in 2023 on the I-City Max.
Battery-electric in Ilesbus’s Iveco-based small coach range will follow. However, the builder notes that Iveco will introduce an OEM vehicle with a suitable drivetrain in the future, which may better suit the high-floor tourism application where no alteration to the chassis is required.
General Manager Ilker Yildrim says that development of the e-City was purposely kept under wraps for much of that process, although interest from potential buyers is now growing. All driveline conversion work is undertaken by Ilesbus at its Bursa factory in Turkey.
