Lyon, 4th February 2011
The Citelis Hybrid, the first Iveco Irisbus vehicle with this innovative traction system to go on the road in Italy, was presented on Milan's piazza Duomo on Saturday 29 January in the presence of the city's Mayor Letizia Moratti and Elio Catania, CEO of the local public transport company ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi).
The bus is currently undergoing pre-service tests, after which it will start normal duty on scheduled services in the city.
The hybrid Citelis, 12 m. long, has a diesel engine, a 300 HP Tector 6 EEV, connected to a generator (140 kW) that supplies the electric motor (175 kW), which in turn recycles kinetic energy to charge the on-board lithium-ion batteries when the bus is braking. The hybrid system generates fuel savings and above all a drastic reduction of up to 40% in carbon dioxide emissions.
Thanks to the “Stop & Start” function, the ride comfort and noise level are also considerably improved compared to conventional traction, while the interiors and fittings are identical to those of the diesel version, with no decrease in the space available to passengers. In this version, the hybrid Citelis is able to carry a total of 97 passengers and one wheelchair for disabled people.
Together with the Citelis Hybrid, 35 new Irisbus Iveco Daily minibuses to be used for the “Radiobus”, “Bus by Night” and “Radiobus for districts” services were also presented. These are personalised call-a-bus services, which take passengers right to their doorsteps. The last mentioned, the “Radiobus for districts”, was launched in 2010 and recorded excellent results in terms of both efficiency and user approval ratings.
The minibuses chosen for these services are Daily Ways with 12 seats plus 2 wheelchair stations. Equipped with a 170 HP EEV Iveco F1C diesel engine with particulate filter, they are fitted with a wheelchair lift, a ticket punch machine and a video surveillance service comprising 4 security cameras, a digital video recorder and a global positioning system.