Van Hool achieves world first with 100% battery-electric double-decker touring coach
After the independent manufacturer of buses, coaches and industrial vehicles Van Hool from Koningshooikt shipped the first 100% battery-electric travel bus, the CX45E, to the US in late 2020, the double-decker variant will be launched in 2022. The TDX25E will be the new jewel in the crown of this nearly 75-year-old champion of electric vehicle propulsion.
Below decks, there is room for 18 passengers and above decks for 51, so 69 people in all. The double-decker has a range of up to 500 km, depending on weather conditions and the relief of the route. Like its predecessor and smaller brother, the TDX25E is destined for the North American market, primarily to take workers from home to the workplace and back in comfort. Satisfaction with the CX45E monoplane on the other side of the Atlantic encouraged Van Hool to work quickly on a fully electric-powered model with a higher passenger capacity. Indeed, after Europe, the US is Van Hool's second home market. Nowhere is the demand for double-deckers greater than there. Today, there are over 11,000 buses and coaches on North American roads. Even some Silicon Valley companies are using Van Hool buses as shuttles for their employees.
With electric propulsion (hydrogen, trolley, battery and hybrid), its absolute speciality, the Belgian manufacturer has already equipped more than 1,200 vehicles in recent decades.