Three battery-electric Yutong coaches deployed in Austria

Austrian company Dr. Richard Gruppe has put its first electric coaches into operation. As of now, the largest private bus company in the German-speaking region operates three electric coaches from Yutong.

Dr richard yutong t12e grafik — Image: Dr. Richard

Two of the battery-electric coaches are deployed at the Vienna depot, while the third operates in Salzburg, as the company reports. From their respective depots, the coaches will be used for day trips, city tours and shuttle services – within a range of ‘approximately 380 kilometres’. The vehicles can transport up to 50 passengers.

The vehicles procured by Dr. Richard are the Yutong T12E model. “Extensive market analyses and tests of various models from different manufacturers” led the company to choose this model. “The provider meets all guidelines, EU standards, and its buses are already successfully in use across Europe. Quality, technology and availability were ultimately the decisive factors in the decision,” explains Dr. Richard.

The T12E is powered by a 350 kW electric motor, which delivers up to 3,200 Nm of maximum torque. According to the datasheet, it uses a 400 kWh battery based on LFP cells, with an energy density of over 160 Wh/kg. With a consumption of less than 1.05 kWh/km, a range of approximately 350 kilometres is achievable – 30 kilometres less than the figure stated by Dr. Richard. The manufacturer states that the battery requires maintenance only once per year, which is expected to reduce operating costs.

The batteries can be recharged at up to 150 kW directly at the depots, as the corporate group already operates battery-electric city buses and an electric ‘Hop-on Hop-off fleet’ in both Salzburg and Vienna, which are also charged on-site. In Salzburg, the subsidiary Albus already has 49 battery-electric city buses in service, which are powered by the recently expanded photovoltaic (PV) system at the depot, as reported on our German site. Nine additional battery-electric city buses will follow in May.

“We are delighted to be the first bus company in Austria to put fully electric coaches into operation, marking an important step towards sustainable mobility. After extensive testing and analysis, we have found a practical solution for electric coach transport, which is a real game-changer for the industry,” says Lukas Hackl, Managing Director of the Dr. Richard Group. “We have taken a significant step closer to our goal of reducing emissions in bus transport. For over 90 years, the Dr. Richard Group has stood for the highest quality and safety standards – and this remains our commitment as we offer our passengers new technologies.”

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