AUTONEWS

CaetanoBus: Toyota Caetano Portugal's division has expanded and improved its range of urban buses, both battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell-powered

CaetanoBus has introduced its new range of zero-emission buses, which have been improved and reinforced. Located in Gaia, this northern company is the division of Toyota Caetano Portugal, specializing in the construction of heavy vehicles for public transport, including the well-known Cobus, which is the world's leading airport supplier, but especially zero-emission buses, which store energy in the battery and recharge it from the electrical grid, or produce it on board from hydrogen using fuel cells. 

The new range of buses, with a more modern look, has a modular construction, which allows the Portuguese company to offer models with three different gauges, with lengths of 8.5m, 12m and 18m respectively. The latter, articulated due to its enormous length, will also have a version called BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), which, to speed up passenger entry and exit in certain places where this is possible, will have doors that open on both sides.

To design this new bus line, CaetanoBus has partnered with CRRC, the Chinese company specializing in electric rolling stock (from high-speed trains to buses), of which it is the world leader. Nuno Lago de Carvalho, the Chief Customer Officer (CCO) of CaetanoBus, highlighted the effort made in designing the new range of Caetano e.CityGold buses, as they are scalable between 8.5 and 18 meters, and as they offer what he calls “the cutting edge of engineering in electric mobility”. 

The electric versions use CATL's BC5 batteries, made of lithium iron phosphate but with greater longevity, given the capacity to guarantee up to 4,000 charge/discharge cycles, increasing the useful life of the batteries and, with it, ensuring a reduction in operating costs. For 8.5m models, the manufacturer uses a capacity of 266 kWh, a value that increases to 465 kWh in 12m vehicles and to 700 kWh in 18m buses.

While the Caetano e.CityGold are electric and battery-powered, the Caetano H2.CityGold are hydrogen-powered, using this gas to generate electricity on board through generation 2.5 fuel cells, developed and supplied by Toyota, for a power of 70 kW. 

For starting times and to meet the additional power requirements during peak periods, the H2.CityGold also features batteries, which are smaller than those installed in the 100% electric versions, but are still very large. The capacity is 170 kWh in the 18-meter hydrogen buses, falling to 130 kWh in the 12-meter gauge.

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