Alfabus, from China to Europe. Ecity L12 is ready for Western markets

Alfabus, Chinese manufacturer of electric buses, is ready to debut in Europe under the denomination Alfabus Europe, that is the result of a strategic partnership between Basco Bus, distributor and seller of 2nd hand buses based in northern Italy, and the Chinese manufacturer. The electric bus Ecity L12 isready to be offered to the European market. The bus was tested in Italy by AUTOBUS magazine.

Alfabus, electric buses since 2002

The Ecity L12 is a classic 12 meter city bus. The manufacturer is Alfabus, a Chinese company that produces about 3,000 buses every year from its plant in Jiangyin, 150 km from Shanghai. The first Alfabus full electric bus was built in 2002, the first opportunity for a massive deployment of electric buses happened six years later, on the occasion of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2012, the company signed a strategic partnership with Shanghai E-car with regards to research and development related to new products with electric driveline.

Ecity L12, a version for Europe

The Ecity L12 offered by Alfabus Europe to European market is not the exact vehicle distributed on the Chinese market. Dozens of changes have been made to make it suitable to western markets, including the doubling of the rear door, improvements in internal layout in order to facilitate mobility, air conditioning system.

Up to 354 kWh of batteries for Ecity L12

The original “skeleton” of the vehicle is anyway intouched, made on a monocoque structure. The bus is moved by the permanent magnet synchronous motor (Tqsl100a-6/380) capable of delivering up to 210 kW and 2,400 Newtonmetro and the (large) equipment of batteries, able to store up to 354 kWh of electricity (you can also opt for 290) and to charge completely in about six hours. The batteries are divided into twelve modules: six on the roof, six in the rear. From 2019 on, Ecity L12 will also be equipped with a pantograph for fast charging (an option that would naturally be combined with the reduction of the capacity of batteries on board).

NMC batteries, the cells from Nissan supplier

From 2019 also the 8-metre version will become available. The battery chemicals for this latest generation of vehicle is NMC (Nickel manganese cobalt). All the electrical components (control units, inverters, motors) are produced in-house, as are the batteries, while the cells of the batteries are supplied directly by the Japanese company AESC, leader in the sector and official supplier of Nissan. The electric bus is expected to run up to 300 kilometers with one charge.