New kid on the block Quantron, founded in 2019, has presented its new twelve meters long electric bus called Cizaris. The new bus is launched as an all-electric version, the Cizaris 12 EV, followed in 2023 by a fuel cell drive Cizaris 12 H using a largely identical powertrain. The name Cizaris comes from "City", "Zero (emissions)" and the suffix "ARIS" is derived from the Greek and stands for "the noblest/the best: resulting in Cizaris.
Quantron is based in the German city of Augsburg-Gersthofen, where also the customer-specific adaptations are done. Quantron states it is a “Preferred Partner" of Chinese manufacturer EV Dynamics which issued a press release at 10 February stating it has delivered buses to Europe as part of a collaboration with strategic partners in Europe. It looks quite similar. The vehicle offers 24 to 35 seats depending on the battery package, there is room for 81 to 95 passengers who can access the vehicle through two or three 1,200 mm wide doors. The standing height is 2,449 mm. The front area up to door two is fully low-floor. A Valeo heat pump/air conditioning unit has a cooling capacity of 33 kW. Antiviral filters as well as a closed driver's cab are among the possible equipment options. A special highlight in the interior is the elaborately perforated aluminium ceiling with indirect lateral light as well as further LED lights mounted transversely to it.
The driver's workplace is mounted on a raised platform from which the driver meets his customers at "eye level". The easy-grip steering wheel is adjustable in two directions and has on the right the recuperation lever. A fully digital instrument cluster from Actia provides the necessary information as the standard mounted high-resolution camera mirror monitors do. The electric bus is equipped with the latest electronic safety systems such as ABS/ASR, EBS 5.0, ECAS. Fire detectors (temperature/gas sensors) and separate powder extinguishing cartridges are standard.
The batteries are lithium iron phosphate. The engine is a Dana/TM4 and is water-cooled. The output is 145/245 kW (nominal/maximum) with maximum torque of 3,329 Nm. With between 242 and 424 kWh of selectable battery capacity, CATL's roof-mounted-only battery packs are fast-charged with 65 to 150 kW of direct current (DC) in two to five hours. In the medium-heavy eSORT 2 cycle, this energy is sufficient for 220 to 370 kilometre circulations at a do-duty (DoD) charge rate of 10 percent.
The chassis has undergone a KTL treatment and other effective corrosion protection measures. The warranty terms are basically two years for the entire vehicle, and eight years or 3,000 charging cycles (or 80 percent charging capacity. Quantron states it already has a network of 700 service partners in Europe. The sales focus is initially on the markets of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Scandinavia and Southern Europe. Due to the special requirements of the German market, such as the VDV specifications regarding the driver's workstation and other systems, the market launch in Germany, Austria and Switzerland will take place in the second half of 2022.