Superbus showcased

News article | May 10, 2011

The Superbus prototype version debuted for the first time outside Europe at the UITP Mobility and City Expo in Dubai last week, where it attracted significant attention from local and regional media, visitors, and local transportation authorities. The Superbus is in the UAE for two weeks and following its appearance at the UITP Expo last week it moved to Abu Dhabi, where it was showcased at Masdar to local media representatives on April 18th.

The Superbus is electrically powered on lithium iron phosphate batteries, can speed up to 250 km/h and carry 23 passengers. As such, it offers seizable sustainable public transportation potentials. The vehicle is the brain child of a design team at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands who have brought the prototype to the UAE after an exploratory initial visit coinciding with last month’s Commercial Vehicles Middle East exhibition and conference in Dubai.

It has been opted as the “Dutch solution” to the three ills of public transportation: congestion, pollution, and safety. “The Superbus will tackle the challenges of mobility, spatial planning, service detail and environmental demands all in one,” said chief designer Antonia Terzi, the Italian former chief aerodynamicist of the BMW-Williams Formula 1 team.

The Superbus project is backed by the Dutch government as well as ten sponsors and 56 suppliers. The first Superbus road tests took place in Holland last September.

Accompanying the vehicle in the UAE are senior delegates of the design team, including Wubbo Ockels, General Manager and first Dutch astronaut; Antonia Terzi, Chief Designer, and Joris Melkert, Manager of Infrastructure and Logistics.