Public transport operator in Zagreb to receive 500 electric buses

Public transport operator ZET in the Croatian capital Zagreb plans to electrify its entire bus fleet over the next ten years by procuring 500 electric buses. Zagreb’s mayor announced the initiative during the launch of two MAN electric buses now operating on city routes.

Man lions city 12e zet zagreb kroatien — Image: ZET

Zagreb aims to become a pioneer in electrifying public transport in Croatia. “Zagreb is the first city in Croatia to operate large electric buses in public transport,” said Mayor Tomislav Tomašević during the presentation of the new MAN electric buses for ZET. “Our goal is to purchase 500 electric buses over the next ten years and fully electrify the ZET bus fleet.”

In April, ZET commissioned its first electric bus, an Iveco Crossway LE Elec, and announced the procurement of 70 electric buses. The plan includes 33 solo buses, 29 articulated buses, and eight midi buses. The 70 buses are expected to be delivered next year, Tomašević said. The project will cost around €50 million and will be funded with EU funds in cooperation with the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the Croatian government. The tender for the 70 electric buses has now been completed, but the winning manufacturers have not yet been disclosed.

This week, ZET added its next two electric buses from a previous order to the fleet. They are low-floor MAN Lion’s City 12E buses, 12 metres long with a capacity of 71 passengers (35 seated, 36 standing). The new buses are powered by a 160 kW electric motor. Lithium-ion batteries with a total capacity of 480 kWh provide a range of 330 km. Two more of these electric buses are already on order.

The new buses will carry passengers on weekdays on routes 117 (Črnomerec – Jarun) and 118 (Trg Mažuranića – Voltino) and on weekends on routes 113 and 140, which operate around Jarun Lake and from Mihaljevac to Sljeme. “After launching the first electric bus in April, connecting Ljubljanica and Jarun and marking the first electric bus in Croatia’s public transport, we introduced the second electric bus to Sljeme in June. I am pleased to present two more new low-floor electric buses in our fleet today,” said ZET CEO Marko Bogdanović.

In addition to the bus procurement, ZET is building its own charging infrastructure. A total of 124 charging points for electric low-floor buses will be installed at the depot in the Podsused district of Zagreb. The project costs €27.4 million, of which €21 million will be co-financed with EU funds through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO).

croatiaweek.com, zet.hr (in Croatian)

This article was first published by Florian Treiß for electrive’s German edition.