Transport: Daimler Truck electrifies intercity bus

The commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck has announced details for a battery-electric intercity bus. The “Mercedes-Benz eIntouro” will be delivered to customers from 2026, as the company announced in Berlin.

Customers could order it at the beginning of next year, and the series vehicle will then be presented at an industry trade fair in October 2025. To date, only the city bus in the Daimler Buses portfolio has been electrified.

The electric intercity bus will have lithium iron phosphate batteries and will offer a range of up to 500 kilometers. This makes it suitable for longer distances and higher average speeds, for example on country roads.

Depending on the equipment and battery configuration, the electric intercity bus could cost around 1.5 to 2 times as much as a similarly equipped diesel intercity bus from the DAX group, said Daimler Buses boss Till Oberwörder. He did not give specific prices.

But it’s not just about the vehicle price, but about the total cost of the vehicle. Not only the purchase price, but all costs during use are taken into account. When it comes to city buses, things are already “at eye level,” said Oberwörder. “We also see a similar development for the intercity segment.”

E-coach: “The next big milestone”

As with the e-city buses, customers could charge the e-intercity bus in their depots in the evening as far as possible. “The next big milestone is the electrification of the coach segment,” said Oberwörder. This should take place by 2030. The coach segment is “still a problem child” when it comes to charging infrastructure.

The electrified coaches would also have to be charged while on the move. The manager criticized the speed at which rapid charging and hydrogen filling stations were being set up. In its e-strategy, Daimler Buses, like the Daimler Truck group, relies not only on batteries but also on hydrogen, which supplies electricity for the electric motor through a fuel cell.