Škoda Electric introduces its first battery-electric bus; second fast-charging model slated for next year

In September, Czechoslovakia-based Škoda Electric introduced its first battery-electric bus. The company wants to build on the success of its trolleybuses, of which several hundred will be produced next year mainly for foreign customers. Škoda has also developed a hydrogen-powered and a hybrid bus.

There is a growing emphasis in the world on reducing the negative impacts of transportation on the environment. It is mainly big cities that are looking for environmentally friendly solutions and we offer such solutions. After trolleybuses, hydrogen-powered buses and hybrid vehicles, we are coming out with our own concept of a battery-powered electric bus.

The interest to at least partially replace conventional buses with internal combustion engines with zero-emission (e.g. battery-powered) buses has been recently announced by a number of not only European, but also Czech large cities. During the development of the electric bus, we proceeded with the conviction that the impetus for the development of electro-mobility should not be just the possibility of support from EU institutions, but also a reasonable economic rationality.

—Jaromír Šilhánek, CEO of Škoda Electric

Škoda is currently working on the development of two basic types of electric buses; both are twelve-meter low-floor buses with a power output of 160 kW.

The first type of Škoda electric bus—the one presented in September—will have a range of about 150 kilometers (93 miles) and its charging will take place at the depot during the night, when the vehicle is not in operation.

Škoda battery-electric bus. Click to enlarge.

The production of the second type of bus, with an average range of about 30 km (18.6 miles), is planned for next year. The vehicle will be designed so that the battery can be recharged quickly at the terminals and bus stops.

Škoda Electric is a traditional producer of electric drives and traction motors for locomotives, suburban train units, subway, trolleybuses, trams, mining vehicles, etc. It is a continuation of a longtime tradition of electrotechnical production of Škoda’s factories in Pilsen, which was initiated in the year 1901 in the Electrotechnical plant.