Mercedes-Benz Citaro

Mercedes Benz
Three-door 12-m Citaro 2 in Nîmes , France.
O 530 Citaro and Citaro 2
Manufacturer	EvoBus
design type	Bus
Production period	since 1997
axes	2, 3 or 4
power	220–290 kW (299–394 hp )
Standing room	Max. 158 seats (with seats)
Perm. total weight	18,745-30,000 kg
Previous model	Mercedes-Benz O 405 N
Similar models	CityLAZ-12 , MAN Lion's City , Solaris Urbino , Volvo 7700 / 7900 , Setra S 415 NF , Neoplan Centroliner evolution , Iveco Urbanway

The Mercedes-Benz Citaro , pronounced [ sɪ'tɑʀo ], is an omnibus series developed by Daimler AG or its subsidiary EvoBus for European urban and intercity service .

General

The type designations Citaro and O 530 without any further additions refer to the standard version of the series, the twelve-meter-long, two-axle and low-floor solo bus . In the other versions of the Citaro, abbreviations are appended to the name (“Ü” for the intercity version , “ G” for the articulated version , “LE” for low entry , etc.). The C 628 model group also refers to the Citaro, with C 628.035-13, for example, standing for the current 12-meter car with two doors and diesel drive.

The Citaro was presented for the first time in 1997 at the UITP Congress in Stuttgart, and the first cars were delivered to Hamburger Hochbahn in the same year . When series production began in 1998, it was mainly built in Mannheim and Ligny-en-Barrois (a former Kässbohrer plant ) in France and is considered the successor to the Mercedes-Benz O 405 N series , with which it was produced in parallel for a number of years. For the design, Daimler-Benz was also able to build on the experience of the Kässbohrer Setra S 300 N low-floor bus from 1989.

From 1997 to 2019 over 55,555 Citaros were delivered, making this bus one of the most successful public transport buses.

In the traditional city ​​version , the Citaro is consistently low-floor, but the vehicle floor rises in the rear area of ​​the vehicle, and the seats are mounted on pedestals here , which among other things allow the installation of a diesel engine below the floor on the left . As an alternative, since 1999 a version with a side-mounted tower motor has been offered, with which platform steps at least on the right-hand side of the vehicle and steep inclines in the interior of the vehicle can be avoided, which also benefits a three-door version. In 2005, a low-entry version was introduced to supplement the product range . In this version, the vehicle floor rises in several steps in front of the rear axle, which enables the motor located in the rear in the center below the floor to be driven without the otherwise required portal axle (ZF-AV-132).

In July 2018, the battery-powered, locally emission-free eCitaro was presented, which has been in use in numerous German cities since November 2018.

First Citaro generation

The first generation of the Citaro (internal series O 530) was manufactured from 1997. After initial difficulties, the bus, like its predecessor Mercedes-Benz O 405 N, proved to be a great success. From 1998 the Citaro Ü intercity bus and the Citaro L three-axle solo car were also offered, as was the Citaro G three-axle articulated bus . In 2000 a variant with natural gas drive followed, which was offered as Citaro CNG from 2002 .

Articulated bus version Citaro G of the 1st generation before the facelift

In autumn 2002, the Citaro received its first small facelift . Outwardly, it differed in the straight line of the side windows, the radiator flap was lowered and the air inlet enlarged. Previously, the last side windows and the radiator grille underneath had a kink that rose towards the rear window. It was hoped that the modified air intake would get the thermal problems under control, including the multiple unexplained vehicle fires in this series. As part of this facelift, the previously used rigid front axle was also replaced by an independent wheel suspension that was also used in the later low-entry vehicle , which increased driving and suspension comfort. The axle originally came from ZF Passau and was revised by Daimler-Benz.

A large-scale test with fuel cell propulsion began in 2003 . In 2004, the diesel drive based on the Euro IV emissions standard with SCR technology was presented. In 2005 the right-hand drive Citaro RL for left-hand traffic as well as the low-entry version Citaro LE came onto the market, which was the first model to look like the Citaro after the facelift . The four-axle CapaCity articulated bus was also presented.

In the summer of 2006, there was a major facelift for the existing variants, which is reflected in the exterior through a revised front and rear design (analogous to the low-entry buses introduced shortly before). The previously characteristic feature of the first series, the "washboard panel" on the front of the vehicle, which was also available as a front advertising surface with a smooth surface without a Mercedes star, was omitted in favor of a slightly more rounded front panel. The side arrow of the front indicators has been reversed. The rear end was adapted to the Travego coach : it got similar multi-chamber lights and was designed more round overall.

The interior is distinguished by a slightly changed ceiling design with oval ceiling vents, otherwise it remained largely unchanged. The range of passenger seats has been expanded to include the ISE series in the highest comfort level, which can be recognized by the tapered backrests. More economical and cleaner engines complying with the Euro 4 and Euro 5 emissions standards - later also EEV - were introduced. Since the facelift , the vehicles have been called the Citaro Facelift .

Since the mid-2010s, the number of Citaro buses of the first generation before the major model update in 2006 in Germany has been steadily shrinking, at least among urban transport companies. The vehicles still in use are usually from more recent years of construction (2003 or newer).

Second Citaro generation

PaderSprinter Citaro 2-articulated bus built in 2019 with Ventura pivoting sliding doors

In May 2011, the second generation of the Citaro with a modified design and new engines was presented to the public.

In 2012, innovations followed in the rear of the bus, with which the Citaro 2 was designed for diesel engines of the Euro 6 emissions standard .

From the start, the new Citaro was optionally available with an electronic stability program (ESP), which the EU has been making legally mandatory since 2015.

Initially, the in- line six-cylinder diesel engines OM 906 and OM 457 (h) LA, familiar from the C1, continued to be used. From May 2012 the new common rail diesel engines of the OM 936 series with a displacement of 7.7 l (220 and 260 kW, 299 and 354 hp) and the OM 470 series with a displacement of 10.7 l (265 and 290 kW, 360 or 394 hp). Both series are six-cylinder in-line engines with Euro 6 homologation .

While the Citaro 2 solo bus is produced in series with the horizontal Euro 6 diesel engine OM 936h, the Citaro C2 G articulated bus has the vertical OM 470 engine as standard. At the IAA 2014 in Hanover, the C2 articulated bus with the horizontal engine OM 936h presented. This has been delivered to customers since autumn 2015.

Since 2018, Mercedes-Benz has also been mass -producing the Citaro city bus as a battery-powered solo bus called the eCitaro (initially referred to as the Citaro E-CELL ). In November 2018 the first series eCitaro was handed over to Hamburger Hochbahn .

A variant of the eCitaro with a fuel cell range extender called the eCitaro REX (initially referred to as the Citaro F-Cell ) should complement the product range by 2020. As of 2020, the first vehicle is to be handed over to SWEG Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-AG in 2022 .

Passenger compartment of a Citaro (city version until 2006 with type CSF seats)

variants

The Citaro is currently being manufactured in the following versions:

city ​​traffic

• Citaro: Solo bus, length 12 m, 2 axles, horizontal or vertical engine, 2 or 3 doors, also only with a front door (in countries with left-hand traffic )
• Citaro NGT: Solo bus with gas drive, length 12 m, 2 axles, 2–3 doors, hybrid module with recuperation as additional equipment
• eCitaro: Solo bus with battery-electric drive, length 12 m, 2 axles, 2–3 doors
• Citaro G: Articulated bus , length 18 m, 3 axles, horizontal or vertical engine, 3 or 4 doors, also only with 2 doors (in countries with left-hand traffic)
• Citaro G NGT: Articulated bus with gas drive, length 18 m, 3 axles, 3–4 doors, hybrid module with recuperation as additional equipment
• eCitaro G: Articulated bus with battery-electric drive, length 18 m, 3 axles, 3–4 doors
• GL: Articulated bus (long) ( CapaCity ), length 19.5 m, 4 axles, 3 or 4 doors
• GL II: Articulated bus (long) ( CapaCity L ), length 21.0 m, 4 axles, 4 or 5 doors (Metro package) (3-door SSB version)
• Citaro K: Midibus, length 10.5 m, 2 axles, engine lying under the floor in the rear, 2 (also 3) doors
• Citaro LE: Low Entry, length 12 m, 2 axles, 2 or 3 doors

First generation Citaro Ü overland version

Overland transport

• Citaro Ü: Solo bus, length 12 m, 2 axles, 2 or 3 doors ¹
• Citaro MÜ: Solo bus, length 13 m, 2 axles, 2 doors
• Citaro GÜ: articulated bus, length 18 m, 3 axles, 3 or 4 doors ²
• Citaro LE Ü: Low-Entry, length 12 m, 2 axles, 2 or 3 doors
• Citaro LE MÜ: Low-Entry, length 13 m, 2 axles, 2 or 3 doors, also only with a front door (in countries with left-hand traffic)

^{1 offered} with 3 doors but never produced
^{2 offered} with 4 doors but never produced

2nd generation Citaro Ü with Euro 5 engine

Overland version

As a decisive difference to the urban version, the Citaros of the rural-service version have one at the front and (if there is a 3rd door, not the 3rd Citaro GÜ door) at the rear and two in the middle (Citaro GÜ also with the 3rd door) instead of double-leaf inside swinging doors (Two-lane clearance), which are also available for the overland versions. With the city bus version of the Citaro LE, the optionally available 3rd door is always a single-leaf swing door . In addition, the intercity variants optionally have platforms under the seats in the front of the car and the resulting change in the arrangement of the fuel tank.

EvoBus offers a front design, usually referred to as an "overland front", in which the destination display is located behind the one-piece, upward sloping windshield and not in a glare-free, protruding box, but this is also optionally available for the Citaro of the city version . The overland version can also be ordered with a conventional front design.

Irvine-Citaro G from üstra Hannover

Irvine-Citaro of the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe

Irvine Citaro

When the Hannoversche Verkehrsbetriebe üstra wanted to procure new buses for the world exhibition Expo 2000 , they drew up a specification sheet in cooperation with 300 citizens. James Irvine provided the unusual design, which is how the Irvine-designed version of the Citaro was created . Hanover and Leipzig received vehicles with this design.
Most of the Irvine Citaro have now been taken out of service by transport companies in Germany . Some of them were given to transport companies abroad, e.g. B. to Klaipeda .

Fuel cell version

As O 530 BZ , 37 Citaro fuel cells were produced in 2002 and 2003, primarily as part of the CUTE project financed by the European Union , and these were subjected to a practical test lasting two, sometimes three years. Until the summer of 2010, some buses, also from originally other cities, were still in use at the HHA in Hamburg.

A variant of the eCitaro with a fuel cell range extender called the eCitaro REX (initially referred to as the Citaro F-Cell ) is to complement the product range by 2022.

Right-hand drive Citaro G from Makuhari Chiba ( Japan )

Right hand drive version

The Citaro - particularly as the O 530, O 530 BZ or O 530 G - is also available as a right-hand drive for use in countries with left-hand traffic . In this version, due to the arrangement of the motor, no door can be installed behind the last axle, so that a maximum of two or three doors for the articulated bus are possible. As a right-hand drive, however, the Citaro is also available with just one door or, in the case of an articulated bus, two doors, as is often required in Great Britain. There is also a right-hand drive version with two doors on the left and another middle door on the right, e.g. B. for use as an apron bus at airports.

Track bus version

In 2008 the first of 47 Citaros (a total of 16 solo and 31 articulated vehicles) with track guidance was delivered to Essener Verkehrs-AG . The vehicles are used on the four lane bus routes 142, 145, 146 and 147 in Essen. The first regular service took place after a few test drives in July 2008. These vehicles gradually replaced the vehicles of the type O 405 GN (2).

Hybrid version

Hybrid version of the Citaro Facelift

Since 2010, Citaro articulated buses in hybrid versions have also been in operation at Wuppertaler Stadtwerke AG , Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG, Stadtwerke Krefeld AG, Hamburger Hochbahn AG and Mülheimer Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH. Hybrid buses were manufactured for the transport companies Ruhrbahn GmbH, Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft, Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft, NEW mobil und aktiv Mönchengladbach GmbH, Hamburger Hochbahn and RSAG . The Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (eight) and Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (three) have been using Citaro hybrid buses since May 2011. Citaro hybrid buses are now also in service with the Mainzer Verkehrsgesellschaft, Stadtwerke Ulm and other German transport companies. The buses are equipped with a series hybrid: a 160 kW diesel engine supplied by generator an intermediate circuit with lithium - battery , in turn, the actual drive, four electric motors ( in-wheel motors ) with a nominal total power 320 kW at the 2nd and 3rd axis , provided. The diesel engine switches off below a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, so that there is no emission of emissions in the stop area and in stop-and-go traffic. When braking and when driving downhill, the electric motors act as generators and charge the accumulators. When the charge of the batteries drops to about half the capacity, the diesel engine switches on. This is only about half as large as in comparable vehicles with conventional power transmission. Due to the mechanical decoupling from the wheel drives, the diesel engine can run at a constant speed in the optimal speed range, in particular the start-up noise with conventional power transmission due to revving the engine is eliminated. Due to the high weight of the batteries, however, the bus is around 1.5 tons heavier than a comparable articulated bus. The fuel consumption for the drive alone is around a third lower than that of a conventional bus. However, heating of the passenger compartment, air conditioning and auxiliary systems continue to require additional energy. The diesel hybrid drive has a key function as a product platform for all types of electrical drives and power transmission, whether through fuel cells , overhead lines, induction or other possibilities. Even more powerful and lighter batteries are being sought in order to further improve the payload / dead load ratio.

Battery version (eCitaro)

eCitaro from Stadtwerke Tübingen in regular operation.

The eCitaro with fully electric drive were presented at the IAA Commercial Vehicles in September 2018 after a test cycle. They have been in use with an electrical air conditioning system in Hamburg since November 2018 and in Berlin since March 2019 . 10 eCitaros have been in use in Wiesbaden since December 2019 . The other 46 buses ordered are to be equipped with solid-state batteries, which have a longer range. In January 2020, 16 eCitaros were handed over to the VHH in Hamburg-Bergedorf .

Battery version of Stadtwerke Heilbronn, Verkehrsbetriebe an der Waldheide, Heilbronn.

Further buses of the eCitaro series have been in use at RNV in Heidelberg and Mannheim since January 2019 , at RSV in Reutlingen since 2019, at Stadtwerke Heilbronn that same year, and at Stadtwerke in Tübingen since early 2020.

The eCitaro ( solo bus ) is available with two or three doors. Depending on the desired range, the bus can be equipped with a different number of battery modules. Since the start of series production, six to twelve modules of NMC battery cells and an energy content of 146 to 292 kWh have been available. From 2020, NMC battery cells with a higher energy content will be used, which will increase the total energy content to 198 to 396 kWh. Alternatively, variants with solid-state batteries are available; the energy content here is 252 to 441 kWh, divided into four to seven modules. The battery systems are manufactured by Akasol . The gross vehicle weight is 20,000 kg. It is driven by an electric portal axle with two water-cooled asynchronous motors (120 kW each) from the supplier ZF Friedrichshafen ( ZF AVE 130 ).

The eCitaro G (articulated bus) is available with three or four doors. Due to the higher energy consumption compared to the solo bus, only the versions with ten or twelve (NMC battery cells) or six or seven (solid-state battery cells) modules can be ordered. The gross vehicle weight is 30,000 kg.

Trolleybuses

Citaro trolleybus in Szeged

Since EvoBus does not offer any trolleybuses itself , the transport company in the Hungarian city of Szeged converted six Citaro solo cars into trolleybuses on their own between 2006 and 2010. It is hoped that this will result in savings in spare parts stockpiling - this can be done together with the similar diesel buses of the dispenser series - as well as lower acquisition costs compared to mass-produced trolleybuses. The modified type designation is O 530 Tr12, the six cars have the road numbers T-860 to T-865.

In 2012, two Citaro trolleybuses also went into operation in Gdynia, Poland . The cars with the numbers 3053 and 3054 were created from diesel buses purchased second-hand from the year of construction 2002 and come from the Berlin transport company .

Engines and gears

Three motor types are available:

• Diesel engine OM 936 / OM 936 h (7.7 liter displacement) with 220 kW (299 PS) and 1200 Nm or 260 kW (354 PS) and 1400 Nm
• Diesel engine OM 470 (10.7 liter displacement) with 265 kW (360 PS) and 1700 Nm, or 290 kW (394 PS) and 1900 Nm
• Natural gas engine M 936 G

After the diesel engines met the Euro 3 emissions standard from autumn 2001 , diesel engines were installed from October 2006 that met the Euro 4 standard or even the Euro 5 standard or the EEV standard . In addition to an actual soot particle filter that with the urea solution AUS 32 working BlueTec system required. In 2012, engines that met the Euro 6 standard were used in the vehicle for the first time.

The motors can be combined with the following gear variants:

• ZF EcoLife, six- speed automatic transmission
• Voith four-speed automatic transmission

The first model series also included Citaro with the EPS or Telligent gearshift, a partially automated manual transmission. Further switching aids are available on request.

gallery

• 

  1st generation Citaro before the facelift

• 

  Rear of a Citaro Ü of the 1st generation

• 

  Right-hand drive city version with an overland front and only one door

• 

  Citaro G CNG articulated natural gas bus

• 

  Citaro G diesel articulated bus

• 

  Citaro of the Munich fire brigade

• 

  Citaro G articulated bus, after the 2006 facelift

• 

  15-meter version Citaro L, after the 2006 facelift

• 

  Low-entry bus (extended version) Citaro LE MÜ

• 

  Articulated bus Citaro G (facelift) of the Ruhrbahn with track bus rollers

• 

  Mercedes-Benz Citaro K - Short Citaro - (O 530 K) of the 1st generation after the facelift in Bielsko-Biała

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  Four-door Citaro G from Linz AG

• 

  Citaro G of the second generation at the Lucerne public transport company

• 

  Rear of a 2nd generation Citaro Ü

• 

  VDV driver's seat of the Citaro (right-hand drive for the Japanese market)

• 

  Rear seating group in the Citaro G for the Japanese market

• 

  2nd generation Citaro solo bus

• 

  Fuel cell bus

• 

  Mercedes-Benz Citaro with three doors (city bus)

• 

  Front view of a Citaro city version bus from BVB .

See also

• Mercedes-Benz bus

Web links

Commons : Mercedes-Benz Citaro  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official German website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Citaro city buses. Technical information (PDF), accessed on February 4, 2019 from www.mercedes-benz-bus.com
2. ↑ The longest Mercedes-Benz and the drive of tomorrow: Daimler at the UITP congress. In: media.daimler.com. April 24, 2015, archived from the original on May 8, 2017 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 . 
3. ↑ The development is in the details - article in Der Rote Renner , May 20, 2011, accessed on May 23, 2011
4. ↑ On the road with ESP: First driving report Mercedes-Benz Citaro - article at Blickpunkt LKW & Bus ; Edition 9/2011, p. 52/53.
5. ↑ Cora Werwitzke: Hamburger Hochbahn receives its first eCitaro. In: electrive.net. November 15, 2018, accessed May 15, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Daimler Buses is consistently promoting its leadership role in the bus business in 2016 as well. March 8, 2016, archived from the original on May 8, 2017 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 (announcements regarding Citaro E-CELL and F-CELL). 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Cora Werwitzke: SWEG first eCitaro with BZ-range extender is obtained. In: electrive.net. March 31, 2020, accessed May 15, 2020 . 
8. ↑ The Citaro NGT. With new hybrid technology. September 1, 2017, archived from the original on November 10, 2019 ; accessed on November 10, 2019 (technical data). 
9. ↑ Two Mercedes-Benz hybrid buses now in use at Hamburger Hochbahn. Mercedes-Benz, March 15, 2010, archived from the original on May 8, 2017 ; accessed on May 8, 2017 . 
10. ↑ Federal Minister of Transport hands over hybrid buses to Leipzig ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). On Leipzig Info , May 27, 2011.
11. ↑ Electromobility: Emission-free through the city: the countdown for the Mercedes-Benz Citaro with fully electric drive is on | marsMediaSite. Retrieved on November 10, 2017 (German). 
12. ↑ Electric city bus for Hamburg First Mercedes eCitaro in use. November 19, 2018, archived from the original on November 12, 2019 ; accessed on November 12, 2019 (delivery and technical details). 
13. ↑ eCitaro for BVG - Berlin is switching. March 27, 2019, archived from the original on February 28, 2019 ; accessed on November 12, 2019 (delivery and technical details). 
14. ↑ 16 eCitaro buses officially handed over to VHH . VHH press release of January 27, 2020, accessed on January 30, 2020
15. ↑ https://omnibus.news/e-citaro-fuer-rnv
16. ↑ https://omnibus.news/ecitaro-fuer-rnv
17. ↑ Akasol Homepage - Applications buses. Retrieved July 19, 2019 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b} The new eCitaro. Technical information. In: Mercedes-Benz. Retrieved May 15, 2020 . 
19. ↑ Gdynia: New Museum line introduced, presented three historical and five new trolleybuses , message on trolleymotion.ch from August 6, 2012 ( Memento of December 26, 2014 Internet Archive )