SWEDEN Van Hool has signed a contract with Nobina, the largest passenger transport company in Scandinavia, to supply 15 hybrid Exqui.Citys for use in Malmö and the Skane region in Sweden from June 2014.
Van Hool is the first manufacturer to be awarded a contract for this kind of vehicle in Scandinavia. Sometimes referred to as a ‘tram-bus’ because of its appearance, the hybrid ‘Exqui.City design Malmö’ will be an electrically driven, 24m-long, bi-articulated vehicle. Its electricity is produced by a generator connected to a Euro 6 biogas engine. Van Hool has previously been awarded contracts to supply 92 similar models of the Exqui.City in Metz (France), Barcelona (Spain), Parma (Italy) and Geneva (Switzerland), among other places.
As reported in CBW at the time, Van Hool unveiled a roadworthy prototype of the Exqui.City at last year’s Busworld in Kortrijk. The Exqui.City combines the flexibility of a bus with the efficiency of a tram.
The vehicle has a multipropulsion platform which allows it, in 18m or 24m form, to be configured as a trolleybus, hybrid, fuel cell hybrid or full electric bus.
