DaimlerChrysler will deliver up to 30 fuel cell powered buses to European bus operators beginning in 2002, under agreements announced today. The fuel-cell powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro urban buses, with quiet and environmentally friendly fuel cell technology, will be delivered beginning in late 2002. These are the first fuel cell-powered vehicles available in the market. The Citaro fuel cell buses will operate in the cities of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Barcelona, Spain; Hamburg and Stuttgart, Germany; London, Great Britain; Luxembourg; Porto, Portugal; Stockholm, Sweden; and Reykjavik, Iceland. Other cities are expected to purchase the vehicles soon. “The sale of approximately 30 fuel cell buses represents a successful market entry for this new technology and proves the attractiveness of the fuel cell as an efficient and environmentally friendly power source for the future,” said Wolfgang Diez, head of the Mercedes-Benz/Setra Bus Division at DaimlerChrysler AG. The fuel cell-powered, low-floor Mercedes-Benz Citaro urban regular service buses will be produced by EvoBus GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler with responsibility for European bus activities. Depending on the operating conditions, the 12-meter (39-foot) long Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus with a fuel cell power unit will have an operating range of 200 to 250 kilometers (125-155 miles) and will be able to accommodate up to 70 passengers. The maximum speed is approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour. The fuel cell unit with an output of more than 200 kilowatts, which was developed and produced by the DaimlerChrysler subsidiary Xcellsis, as well as the compressed hydrogen tanks are installed on the roof of the Citaro. The electric motor and transmission are located in the rear of the bus. The Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses now being sold are the technological successors to the Nebus (New Electric Bus), in 1997 the first fuel cell-powered Mercedes-Benz bus to take to the road.