The commercial law firm Orth Kluth advised the transport company Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (rnv) on the award of a major contract for 75 Daimler electric articulated buses with a hydrogen fuel cell as a range extender.

The order for 40 EvoBus Mercedes-Benz eCitaro articulated e-battery buses was recently placed and eight more vehicles are to follow for Ludwigshafen. The total value is around EUR 41 million. In total, there is an option for up to 75 FC-REX buses (fuel cell range extenders) by 2030.

The vehicles have hydrogen fuel cells that convert hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen into electricity during operation, which is used to charge the bus’s batteries during the journey, thereby extending its range. In the coming years, the diesel buses operating in the city of Heidelberg will be replaced by the new climate-friendly buses.

rnv, headquartered in Mannheim and with more than 2,000 employees, is the first major transport alliance to simultaneously transport passengers to their destinations in three federal states: Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. The founders and shareholders are the cities of Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg. The rnv streetcars and buses operate on behalf of the public in the three major cities of the metropolitan region and in an area that extends as far as Bad Dürkheim, Frankenthal, Leimen, Neckargemünd and Weinheim. The company has almost 80 lines and the longest continuous meter-gauge network in Germany.

The Orth Kluth advisory team consisted of Partner Dr. Michael Sitsen, Partner Dr. Christiane Hoffbauer, Salary Partner Alexander Falk and Senior Associate Maria Najdenova.