MAN TRUCK & BUS SE, MUNICH
THE ELECTRIC BUS FROM MAN
"MAN's electric bus serves people without polluting the environment." The narrator for the film proudly announces the new innovation from Varta Batterie AG from Hagen, accompanied by disco music typical of the time.
Electric buses were already used in road traffic in the 1950s. © Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv Foundation, Dortmund WWA F 137 No. 625
FIMOGRAPHIC DETAILS
Producer: unknown
Client: MAN Truck & Bus SE, Munich
Year of production: 1984
Language: German
Running time 10 minutes
Format: 16 mm light tone, color
Archive: Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv Foundation, Dortmund
MOVIE INFO
BACKGROUND OF FILM PRODUCTION
The film, produced for advertising purposes, presents the MAN fleet. Varta Batterie AG contributed one of their successful starter batteries to this new type of bus. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, the company, then still under the name of Akkumulatorenfabrik Hagen (AFA), was experimenting with electric buses that could carry 34 people and reach a top speed of 25 km/h. They came to a range of 80 to 90 kilometers. The AFA was also involved in the construction of electric vehicles in the early Federal Republic. At the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1951, she presented a new type of "accumulator bus" with 35 seats and 20 standing places. It reached a top speed of 42 km/h and had a range of 80 kilometers. Then the Transport Finance Act of 1955 put an abrupt end to the rise of electromobility.
TO FILM PRODUCTION
The 1984 film is set in Mönchengladbach and Düsseldorf. In addition to Frankfurt am Main, the second-generation SL-E electric bus was used in these two cities. It is striking that the battery was on a trailer behind the bus. However, this was very innovative for the time. The battery change could be done without any problems, quickly and fully automatically, which is also explained and shown in detail in the film. The original advertising film was subsequently supplemented with a new section presenting a technical upgrade: thanks to a newly developed, more cost-effective charging system, it was now possible to recharge the battery at the bus stop within 10 minutes.
GO TO CONTENT
With the battery on the back of the trailer, the bus drives through the city center, close to people who want to visit the weekly market with its fresh flower stalls. The colors of the plants stay fresh and people's ears, lungs and nerves stay healthy because the bus runs quietly and with low emissions. On the way, after a certain time, the battery has to be charged at a specially built station.