Irish midi-coach specialists EVM has enjoyed continued success with its low floor solutions, bucking the downward trend in the industry with new units delivered continuously throughout the lockdown, particularly in the UK. The Cityline, based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis and driveline is a familiar sight around the UK and  has proven itself a reliable workhorse, delivering substantial capital and operational cost savings to operators and Community groups.

The engineering team at EVM, headed up by Cosimo Facecchia, who brings 20 plus years of PSV design engineering to the table, focused on several points to create the latest version of the Cityline. 

Peter Flynn, Sales & Marketing Director for EVM, explained on the success of the Cityline and the future potential of the low emission version.  “The industry trend towards small form factor passenger solutions, backed up by creative cloud based software solutions like ‘Via Van’ has created a demand for our Cityline product. The volume of our low floor Cityline in the market over the last 5 plus years has given us a unique opportunity to listen to our customers and work with them and develop solutions that make the Cityline an even better fit for their organisations”.

Another exciting announcement from EVM is the addition of a full electric variant of the Cityline, called the e-Cityline. The e-Cityline will have 150kW motors with three battery packs with a total capacity of 115kWh. Batteries are located in the engine bay and underbody, one forward of the low floor area and the other behind the rear axle. The drive motor itself is mounted just forward of the rear axle.

The choice of motor is unique as it is specifically designed to be most efficient at lower speeds. This gives multiple benefits including, reduced vibration, reduced noise from high rpm motors and maximum torque from 0 rpm. The optimum cruising speed of 70km/h yields 93% efficiency at 2400rpm. Maximum speed of 100km/h is achieved at 3800rpm. With peak torque of 1,250Nm and peak power of 150kW being reached at only 1,000rpm, it makes the new e-Cityline comfortable in even the most difficult topographies.

Range on Electric vehicles can only every be accurately quantified with a lot of additional parameters i.e. driving style, ambient temperature, use of heat/cooling, battery management etc. EVM has invested heavily in eSORT testing with over 100 vehicles travelling 5,800km per workday in 14 test locations all over mainland Europe. The expected range is 200km/124miles.

Battery technology is NMC (Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt) with integrated BMS (Battery management system) and a life cycle of 2500,  with charging time for both models at 2.5 hours on a 50kW DC charger.

“EVM’s will have a complete range of electric solutions for all of its current range and indeed our forthcoming models in 2021” added Peter, “We have a steep development curve mapped out to make Zero emission a real choice for our customers, no matter what the application”