José Ramos, President of CaetanoBus, told Portuguese News Agency LUSA, that the development of better batteries, with greater autonomy and the announcement that Portugal will have a grid for the upcoming electric car made possible this four million euro project go forward.
According to the timming of this project, CaetanoBus will have two prototypes ready to circulate next September and will begin production of the 50 to 70 seats electric buses in the early 2011.
This vehicle will have autonomy up to 150 km and is specially geared towards big cities and airports. The target market of this project is mainly Europe although CaetanoBus is also targeting the US market after some adjustments. The Portuguese electric bus will marketed under the brands Cobus and Caetano and will have 10 to 14 meters long. With the basic specifications already settled, the development team has now the engineering and design work ahead.
aicep Portugal Global, January 2010