Feb 5, 2020

Tribus unveils two new electric buses The Dutch company Tribus, a specialist in designing and manufacturing mobility solutions, is now presenting two electric buses at the VDV Electric Bus Conference in Berlin: The compact city bus Movitas and the wheelchair-accessible VW e-Crafter minibus. A small trade fair called “ElekBu” is also connected to the conference. However, the Movitas exhibited there is not a retrofit, but an in-house development by Tribus. According to the announcement, the Movitas was designed in a modular way and is available in three different lengths: 8.20 m, 8.95 m and 9.70 m. With its lightweight construction and agile handling, the city bus should be particularly suitable for use in city centres. The modular battery can be installed in the underbody or rear and can be charged either slowly in the depot or “opportunity charging”, according to the press release, which does not give further information about the vehicle’s electric drive. Values such as the capacity, charging power or performance data of the electric motor are not quantified, nor is the range. The Movitas is said to differ from other city buses “by features focusing on energy efficiency for maximum range”. A “special “heat pump” is mentioned, which is to use the waste heat from the drive for underfloor heating. In addition, the double-glazed panoramic windows should provide good insulation. A little more information was made available about the VW e-Crafter converted by Tribus. The vehicle has eight seats and two wheelchair places including wheelchair lift in the rear. Tribus speaks of a “practical range” of up to 150 kilometres, and the battery can be charged by direct current in just one hour. The project was launched in early 2019 in cooperation with VW Netherlands to develop a wheelchair-accessible e-mini-bus. Even in the converted version, the e-Crafter has a European type approval and can be driven with a normal car driving licence.