Madrid opts for a fully electric bus

Last week, the Municipal Transport Company of Madrid presented a new electric 100% bus prototype. This vehicle called Aptis has been created by the French company Alstom. Along with this bus, there are two other Rampini Wolta electric minibuses. It should be noted that Madrid has the third largest fleet of electric buses in all of Europe.

During this month of February this bus will be tested in the cities of Madrid, it will walk through the most central places and take all types of routes in order to verify its effectiveness on the roads. This vehicle has a length of 12 meters and aims to improve the performance of conventional buses in terms of internal mobility. In this case, the seats have been improved, as well as facilitating entry and exit of the bus for all passengers. Maneuverability has also been improved and its useful life extended.

In addition to offering multiple advantages for travelers, the Aptis bus has a rear axle that can rotate, in this way, it will be able to make much sharper turns, circulate through roundabouts without invading two lanes and improve the approach to stops with minimal effort. . Among its dimensions we find that this bus offers an integral floor surface free of obstacles of about 20 square meters, and can transport up to 100 passengers, 25 more than usual.

Among these improvements, we also find that the Aptis is fully glazed, even on the back, thus offering a 360º view to the bus driver. On the other hand, its autonomy is about 200 kilometers and its low maintenance cost make it one of the best buses in the world.

As for the batteries, they are located on the roof of the vehicle and can be recharged through a cable, in the garages or on the ground at the head of the lines. All of these advantages are actually very beneficial for the city of Madrid and its public transport, but the truth is that it is necessary to carry out tests to verify that each and every one of these statements are really true when it comes to putting the vehicle on the streets.

Of course, the company Alstom assures that all these factors are totally correct, both those of this bus and those of the minibuses that will also be used in the center of Madrid. In this way, after carrying out the relevant tests, they will begin to be used routinely in Madrid.