In the sunny country of Spain, residents of Valladolid will soon be able to enjoy a little more fresh air with that sunshine. The public transit operator, AUVASA (Autobuses Urbanos de Valladolid), has orders 30 zero-emissions electric buses from Irizar e-mobility, which is based in Spain. AUVASA has also ordered charging infrastructure for those electric buses from Irizar e-mobility.
Irizar ie tram electric bus at night. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
A little more than a third of these electric buses, 11, will be delivered at the end of 2022. Óscar Puente, Mayor of Valladolid; Luis Ángel Vélez, Councilman for Mobility and Urban Space of the City of Valladolid; and Álvaro Fernández, Managing Director of AUVASA felt so good about the order that they visited Irizar e-mobility on Monday. That implies that they may be so enthusiastic about the move to electric transit that more orders will come down the line once these first buses hit the road and show what they can do. (As if there aren’t enough electric bus demonstration projects around Europe, and the world, by now to convince every transit operator to order 100% electric buses from here on out.)
“We’re extremely proud of the trust that AUVASA and the city of Valladolid has put in us to start the electric transformation of their fleet. They decided to choose the Irizar ie tram. It’s a bus that, because of its modern and innovative design, gives the city a unique appeal at the same time it maximises comfort, accessibility and safety for drivers and passengers. The low CO2 and noise emissions and the great passenger experience make the Irizar ie tram an especially suitable bus for using in urban centres,” says Txema Otero, Commercial Director for Spain and Portugal of Irizar e-mobility.
Irizar ie tram electric bus charging with pantograph charging system. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
The battery packs for the Irizar ie tram have a capacity of 630 kWh each. These aren’t your little electric cars!
As far as charging those large batteries, “they will have a double charging system, consisting of an inverted pantograph and smart plug-in charging in the garage, manufactured by Jema Energy, an Irizar Group company.
“With the inverted pantograph charging system, communication between the bus and the charger is established when a bus arrives at the garage and the pantograph is automatically lowered. The system is compatible with practically all electric buses on the market and it makes the daily vehicle charging process easier.”
That sounds like the kind of convenience a transit operator would crave.
Irizar ie tram electric bus at night. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
As far as some technical details, the electric buses will each include:
- 43 seats
- 3 wheelchair areas
- 4 PRM seats
- capacity for 105 passengers
- 4 doors
- 29″ multimedia screens
- USB charging ports.
Furthermore, the electric buses are jumping into the future with regards to rear visibility and advanced safety features — “to improve safety and ensure passengers have a comfortable trip, the buses will have cameras instead of rear view mirrors that increase forward, side and rear visibility, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), protection for pedestrians and cyclists, and closed circuit television circuits (CCTV) that monitor the cabinet.”
This sounds like an all-around win for the city of Valladolid, its residents, its bus drivers, Irizar e-mobility, and the climate.
Irizar ie tram electric buses. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
As a final note, in my opinion, the Irizar ie tram is one of the coolest looking buses I’ve ever seen. We need more of these!
Irizar ie tram electric buses. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
Irizar ie tram electric bus. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
Irizar ie tram electric bus. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
Irizar ie tram electric bus. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
Irizar ie tram electric bus. Image courtesy of Irizar e-mobility.
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