MAN Truck & Bus and ST Engineering going for Singapore’s electric bus drive

What happens when you marry AI and automotive sensors to a powerful electric bus? The answer may well be MAN’s E bus seen in Singapore recently during an event initiated by MAN Truck & Bus and ST Engineering, one of Singapore’s leading technology businesses. Read more below.

SINGAPORE – Leading German commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus SE (MAN) and its partner, ST Engineering, are developing an innovative solution to support Singapore’s rapid public bus fleet refurbishment.

MAN has long powered Singapore’s public transit, with over 1,500 buses and 1,000 trucks to transport operators and fleet owners since 2011.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) wants to swiftly electrify the nation’s public bus fleet, replacing half of its 6,000 buses with zero-emission models by 2030 in line with the Singapore Green Plan 2030. The change will make commutes quieter and cleaner with lower land transport emissions.

MAN and ST Engineering are designing a system that meets the newest LTA public bus specifications to support the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and LTA’s electrification initiative. The solution will use MAN’s award-winning Lion’s Chassis E low-floor with three passenger doors. ST Engineering’s AGIL® DriveSafe+ technology will power the proposed solution’s ADAS.  MAN’s Lion City E has over 1,000 orders and 450 in service in major European cities.

ST Engineering’s Mobility Services business developed AGIL® DriveSafe+, which uses AI video analytics technology to monitor and detect potential blind spot collisions and other ADAS capabilities to improve driver situational awareness and road safety. Select Singapore public buses are testing AGIL® DriveSafe+.

“Singapore has a very ambitious electrification program for its public bus fleet. We are ready to contribute to its successful implementation by offering the right and ready solution in the form of MAN’s proven e-bus chassis that can be easily customised to meet LTA’s requirements. When further enhanced with the first-of-its-kind AGIL® DriveSafe+ technology developed by ST Engineering Mobility Services, our offering would be extremely competitive. At MAN, we believe that the future is electric. Our main focus is definitely on advancing electro-mobility. To achieve this, we are working on a wide variety of levers: whether it’s employee training, end-to-end consultancy for private customers and transport operators, investments in battery production or the constant further development of our MAN Lion’s City E. We intend to work closely with our customers in every market. Our goal was and is to offer the best electric city bus on the market. Thanks to our successful partnership with ST Engineering, MAN has evolved into one of the strongest brands in the local commercial vehicle market and we intend to play our part in helping power Singapore towards its net zero emissions aspiration,” said Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO, MAN.

Vlaskamp spoke at the introduction of Southeast Asia’s first right-hand drive electric single deck MAN bus at a private display for public and private transport companies.

“Building on our long-standing collaboration with MAN, we are now teaming up to bring to the market a new generation of electric buses that combine best-in-class technology and reliability, with superior driver safety capabilities. As our AGIL® DriveSafe+ technology undergoes trials in Singapore, we are gathering real-world insights to continuously refine and enhance its capabilities, driving advancements in road safety. We believe this will set a new standard for public transit safety in Singapore, making our roads safer for all,” said Hoe Yeen Teck, Head, Mobility Road and Services, Urban Solutions, ST Engineering.

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