The renewal of the Mainz bus fleet is progressing more slowly than expected.

Despite all the difficulties, it should have around 100 environmentally and climate-friendly vehicles by 2030.

This goal will continue to be pursued, assure Jochen Erlhof and Berit Schmitz, the managing directors of the local transport company Mainzer Mobility.

Markus Schug

Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus district and for Wiesbaden.

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But you also say that customers would have to wait up to three years for the models that are in demand worldwide. And that there are currently too few federal, state and European Union (EU) funding programs to noticeably help companies willing to convert to finance the fleet conversion, said Erlhof. During discussions with media representatives at the depot, not only the modernization strategy for the fleet, which currently has more than 145 buses, was presented; In line with this, the company's first own fuel cell bus, which is to be used from March, was also presented.

The newly purchased solo fuel cell bus, which is suitable for up to 70 passengers and which the Portuguese manufacturer Caetano developed together with Toyota, cost around 600,000 euros.

According to Erlhof, a purchase of a total of eleven hydrogen buses originally planned together with Wiesbaden and Frankfurt, which had been ordered in 2018, failed because the manufacturer selected for the EU project entitled "H 2 Bus Rhein-Main" did not have the large order able to fulfill.

Charging still takes too long

At least the hydrogen filling station created as part of the transnational cooperation is now available on the ESWE premises in Wiesbaden, where the Mainz prototype will also have to stop regularly for refueling in the future. According to the transport company, the required hydrogen should come from the Mainz energy park, where the “green fuel” is obtained from excess electricity from a wind turbine and with the help of electrolysis – i.e. 100 percent regenerative. The filling can be done in less than 15 minutes, which is one of the advantages of fuel cell technology. Experience has shown that it still takes a few hours to charge battery-only buses via the power grid.

Nevertheless, another 23 battery-powered articulated buses from the manufacturer MAN are scheduled to arrive at the Kaiser-Karl-Ring depot in the second half of the year.

Including the necessary extensions to the charging stations, this means an investment of almost 26 million euros, according to Erlhof and Schmitz.

The Federal Environment Ministry contributed almost ten million euros to the vehicle order placed in 2019.

Compared to the purchase of modern diesel buses, according to their calculations, Mainz mobility still has to spend around 7.5 million euros more for the purchase of almost two dozen new battery buses.

Models can cover almost twice the distance

Four e-buses from the manufacturer Sileo have been on the road in Mainz since May 2020, but with a range of up to 200 kilometers they are well below the daily mileage of the fuel cell competition.

Because these models can cover almost twice as much distance before they have to refuel.

Even if the stated aim is to put around 100 electrically operated buses on the road by 2030, with the Mainz network also including 41 trams, modern diesel vehicles will probably continue to bear the brunt in the short to medium term, according to Erlhof.

According to the municipal local transport provider “before Corona”, around 185,000 passengers had to be transported every day.

The 17 low-emission diesel buses from Evobus, which have been available since the end of 2021 and meet the Euro 6 emissions standard, are designed in such a way that there is actually nothing to complain about when it comes to “fine dust” and “nitrogen oxides”, according to the two managing directors .

However, this does not apply to carbon dioxide emissions.