Heading for the pistes – with low emissions

MAN has a wide variety of eBuses that are ideal for transporting winter sports enthusiasts, ranging from the 18-metre-long Lion’s City 18 E to the agile Lion’s City 10 E, just 10.5 metres long. The latter was not only voted Sustainable Bus of the Year 2024 by industry journalists, it also proved itself to be as versatile as it is durable in practical testing in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. Through countless switchbacks and a total of 10,000 metres of elevation, it travelled down into the Val Gardena, up to the Gardena Pass, back to the Passo Valparola, picturesque Maranza, and after a quick detour to top up the batteries, back over the Brenner Pass and back to the start in Chiusa. The tight bends of the 531-kilometre route were no more of a problem than the power consumption, which averaged just 0.77 kilowatts per kilometre thanks to an incredible regeneration rate of over 50 per cent. The test showed that MAN’s eBuses are definitely fit for the mountains.

MAN eBuses in Austrian and Swiss ski resorts

There is no longer any obstacle to the electrification of winter bus travel. The Austrian glacier region of Tux-Finkenberg agrees, with seven MAN eBuses plying their trade on routes between Vorderlanersbach and Hintertux over the winter months and between Mayrhofen and Hintertux as well as the Schlegeis dam in the summer. The MAN Lion’s City 12 E buses are saving some 122,500 litres of diesel every year, with the expected reduction in CO₂ in the region of 324 tonnes, according to the operator.

The valley of Engadin, deep in the high alps of the Swiss canton of Grisons, is also using a MAN eBus as a low-emission way to take skiers to the pistes. Bus und Service AG (BuS AG, operator of Engadin Bus and Chur Bus) added the Lion’s City 12 E to its fleet at the beginning of 2022 and has since tested it thoroughly in a variety of operating conditions. Since then, the eBus has been in daily use in the region.

The Olympic region of Seefeld in Tirol has also been busy with the Lion’s City 12 E since early 2022. At the invitation of the tourist association, the electric Lion has been proving its versatility on the snowy Seefeld plateau in wintry temperatures.

PistenBully ready for renewable diesel – and running on hydrogen too

In the future, snow groomers will be preparing the perfect conditions for winter sports in ski areas fuelled by environmentally friendly hydrogen instead of diesel. This is made possible by the newly developed MAN H4576 hydrogen engine, based on the tried and tested MAN D3876 diesel engine. It produces an impressive 500 hp (368 kW) and opens up a variety of opportunities to decarbonise machinery far from the roads. “Hydrogen engines are a promising approach to speed up the decarbonisation of offroad vehicles,” says Mikael Lindner, Head of MAN Engines. “As soon as the market is ready for them, we will be able to offer bespoke solutions.”