Van Hool has secured a large order for 112 battery buses from Dutch public transport operator Qbuzz, (owned by Italian FS). This follows a previous order of 54 battery buses from Van Hool by Qbuzz landed in March 2023.

The models involved in the order are Van Hool A13LE E (56 units; 45 + 3 seats; 13 m) and Van Hool A15LE E (56 units; 51 + 5 seats; 15 m).

Van Hool 112-units order from Qbuzz

The upcoming deployment of these buses is scheduled for December 15th 2024 in the Zuid-Holland Noord transport region within the province of South Holland, encompassing key cities such as Leiden, Gouda, and Alphen aan de Rijn.

Van Hool’s ‘counter’ stands at 400 units of the A series sold in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Denmark. 72% of the vehicles sold are equipped with battery-electric drive, 16.5% with hydrogen/fuel cell drive and 11.5% are equipped with trolley drive.

Described as the largest order for Van Hool’s ‘A’ city bus, this development underscores the swift expansion of the partnership between the two entities. Van Hool stresses that within a span of less than a year, Qbuzz has committed to a total of 166 buses from Van Hool. Also fuel cell buses are part of Qbuzz – Van Hool ‘relation’.

The Belgian manufacturer stresses that “All buses in the A range are designed and developed at Van Hool’s knowledge centre in Koningshooikt. This is also where the building and testing of prototypes takes place, as well as production and commercial support, such as parts purchasing, after-sales service and spare parts. Both the production sites in Koningshooikt and Skopje (northern Macedonia) can produce the A-range buses“.

The motor continuous output stands at 310 and the batteries are LFP type and have a capacity of 578 kWh.

Highlights

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