Irizar has 18m e-buses in Barcelona

The first 18-metre fully electric Irizar e-mobility buses for Barcelona start carrying up to 147 passengers each from December.

Four battery electric articulated buses were officially unveiled on November 30 by representatives of Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and Irizar e-mobility.

The 18m e-buses start on Barcelona’s H16 line and join two 12m Irizar ie buses that have been running in the city since 2014.

Irizar builds the whole electric bus, including components, through its different companies and, according to Sustainable Bus

, is the first bus maker to have a plant based on e-mobility and to build the entire bus in-house.

Looking like a tram, the new e-bus has four doors and an electric ramp, 36 seats, a driver’s seat, a wheelchair area and a pushchair area. Most of the 147-passenger capacity would involve standing passengers.

Rear-view mirrors include cameras and each e-bus has USB ports on handrails for phone charging and wi-fi for passengers.

The e-buses are charged through a pantograph extending from the roof to an interoperable charging mast. Irizar e-mobility says they require a four to five-minute opportunity charge along the route, as well as overnight depot charging.

Irizar e-mobility has also signed a contract with RDT 13 that includes the delivery and the maintenance of 15 Irizar ie trams for Aix en Provence, in France, Sustainable Bus reports. In Luxembourg, Voyages Emile Weber fleet will have 21 Irizar e-buses on the road, 14 of them ie trams. They will be the first 18m articulated buses with 525 kWh to operate in night charging mode.