The goal of the four-year agreement between Flix, German transport company established in 2013 that operates in Europe, United States and Brazil with FlixBus and FlixTrain, and the bus division of the automotive giant Daimler, aims at electrifying the famous fleet of buses.
The project is funded by the Federal German Ministry for Economy and Climate and two full electric prototypes will be tested.
In a first phase, a modular motor will be implemented according to fundamental parameters such as the energy consumption, the autonomy level, drive performance and the battery duration, to be afterwards analysed in the light of the environmental impact, of the cost-benefit ratio and of its concrete marketing on the market.
In addition to Flix and Daimler Buses, the project involves, as research partners, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (Kit), the University of Mannheim and Kaiserslautern Polytechnics. The primary challenge for Flix and Daimler Buses is ascertaining that electric vehicles can withstand long distances, according to travelling times and standards demanded.
According to the company’s data, those who travel for 400 kilometres with a long mileage bus, instead of by car, reduce their own emissions of CO2 by around 6.6 kilos.
