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Mercedes-Benz already has close to 100 orders for its eO500U electric bus chassis

Deliveries start at the end of 2022

17 March 2022

In 2021, the Mercedes-Benz O500 bus series celebrated 20 years of commercial life with its urban and road versions, of which more than 70,000 have been manufactured in Brazil, supplying both the local market and the those of South America and other continents.

In that same year, the electric revolution also reached the O500, with the eO500U version, for urban transport. A platform on which Mercedes-Benz has invested heavily, with an investment of 19 million dollars, in addition to an extensive testing program carried out in both Brazil and Germany and now with demonstrations for operators.

As the eO500U commercial breakthrough is a reality, Mercedes-Benz said that 100 orders for the eO500U electric chassis are already scheduled for delivery. The eO500U is the first Mercedes-Benz electric bus chassis in the country, symbolizing the brand’s entry into the era of electromobility in commercial vehicles in Brazil.

“The market is looking forward to the chassis of Mercedes-Benz electric buses starting in the second half of the year,” said the Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Trucks and Buses of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil, Roberto Leoncini. “We already have 100 orders scheduled for delivery between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023,” he added.

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According to Mercedes-Benz, the bus chassis production at the São Bernardo do Campo plant is already preparing for the new product. “Industry 4.0 concepts in our company resulted in the flexibility of assembling several models on the same line. With this, we gain time in the preparation of the eO500U, making only the specific adjustments of an electric vehicle”, said the General Director of Buses Mercedes-Benz Latin America, Sérgio Magalhães. “We are also in an advanced stage of training the team of employees for the electric bus, which requires specific assembly safety knowledge. For that, we have the experience of colleagues from Daimler Truck and SENAI”, he added.

It must be remembered that although the initial configuration of the chassis is developed to build standard-type buses, this eO500U will have to expand the options for Latin operators, with articulated, super-articulated and bi-articulated versions.