MAN Truck & Bus recently took international journalists on a special tour. The Bavarian company subjected its 10.5-meter-long electric minibus to a skinning test, in which the MAN Lion’s City mini-bus had to climb a mountain more than two thousand meters high. You don’t have to worry about its size, as the average bus with a wheelbase of 4.4m has an impressive turning circle of 17.2m. Thanks to this, he thrives on the serpentines of the Dolomites in South Tyrol quite easily.
During the test drive, the medium bus traveled through the Gröden Valley and passed the Valparlola pass, the village of Meransen, all the way to the Brenner pass, and then back to its original starting point, Klausen. “Thanks to the excellent suspension setup, direct steering and shorter wheelbase, the bus managed to tackle this road with ease. The medium bus showed easy maneuverability, and the three-ton battery provided decent cornering stability.” – commented Heinrich Degenhart, MAN Truck & Bus driver instructor.
The bus, which bears the distinctive MAN totem animal, the lion, on its front wall is also equipped with driving support systems such as electronic stability control (ESP), active cornering assistance, or the MAN OptiView camera system, which replaces conventional mirrors.
During the three-day test, the MAN Lion’s City 10E covered a total of 521 km, and since it has a range of 300 km, it was necessary to install an intermediate supercharger with a capacity of 200 kW. Although a total of 80 people could travel in the bus at the same time (33 of which were seats), it did not have to travel with a full load during testing.
The average bus has successfully climbed the highest peak in Valparlola, which is 2168 meters high. After returning to the starting point, the data showed that its average consumption was 0.77 kWh/km. The electric motor with a power of 240 kW and a torque of 2100 Nm does not let the little lion down.
