The new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid celebrates its world premiere from June 7 to 11 at the UITP Congress in Vienna, the world congress of public transport operators. The fuel-cell hybrid bus was developed within the framework of the global initiative "Shaping Future Transportation" and is the first representative of Daimler Buses new fuel-cell bus generation.

The overall environmental compatibility of the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid is outstanding. It produces no emissions during operation and is virtually noise-free. It is therefore ideally suited for use in busy inner cities and other metropolitan areas. As has already been announced, the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid is the next logical step towards zero-emissions local public transport and is therefore a key component of mobility in the future.

Daimler Buses pursues this course undeterred: it all began in 1997 with the NEBUS research vehicle, the first bus in the world powered by a hybrid drive system, leading to the Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid (diesel-electric hybrid drive) just presented to the public and, in 2009, to the new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid.

From the autumn, the Mercedes-Benz Bus and Coach unit will subject the bus to stringent Europe-wide large-scale practical service testing in a number of cities (modelled on the successful CUTE fleet trials organised by the European Union between 2003 and 2006). Within the framework of CUTE, the continuation project HyFLEET CUTE, and other affiliated projects, 36 Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel-cell vehicles have been implemented successfully in twelve transport systems on three continents since 2003. The buses covered more than two million kilometres in around 135,000 operating hours. The environmentally friendly fuel-cell drives demonstrated to great effect their operating suitability.

The new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid builds on the excellent experience with the 36 fuel-cell buses. The further-developed fuel-cell system is complemented by a completely new drive system: it comes synergetically from the Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid. Among the identical components can be mentioned, for instance, the axles with electric wheel hub motors, the lithium-ion batteries for storing the electric charge and all the electrically-powered ancillary assemblies. The entire drive system is designed for maximum efficiency. Depending on traffic conditions and topography, the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid can save between 10 and 25 percent hydrogen by recuperation i.e. recovery of braking energy.

The Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid is based on the tried-and-tested modular structure of the best-selling city bus Mercedes-Benz Citaro. Its fuel cells use hydrogen as fuel. Thanks to a hybrid drive with sophisticated drive control, the hydrogen consumption of the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid is substantially reduced compared with previous fuel-cell buses. This generates numerous benefits with a view to conserving resources and reducing emissions when producing hydrogen.