Sustainable Bus Test Drive: Temsa LD SB E

The Temsa LD SB E intercity BEV bus model was presented for the first time at the IAA expo in Hannover in 2022 and re-proposed at Busworld in Brussels in October 2023.

It joins a zero-emission line-up that already includes the urban battery-powered Temsa Avenue Electron and the electric version of the MD9. These are all part of a corporate re-launch operation that has been put in place from the end of 2020 thanks to becoming part of the joint venture formed by the Turkish industrial-financial conglomerate Sabanci Holding and the Czech investment fund PPF Group. Today, Temsa has 1,800 employees (200 of them in the R&D division), 66 countries covered and a production capacity of 4,000 vehicles, 2,000 buses and as many mini buses.

The Temsa LD SB E is one of the very few intercity battery-electric models on the European market as of today. The Turkish group is coming off a semi-triumphant 2023, with registered volumes in Europe up 86 per cent: from 353 units in 2022 to 658 last year.

[christill]

4% of revenue on R&D doesn’t sound like very much. It makes me wonder what could be achieved if companies really reinvested their profits. But I guess that’s why we should nationalise important industries. The money stays within them rather than going to shareholders,

[johnh]

One question...does it smell? Anyone on a long distance coach becomes acquainted with the whiff of diesel which always makes the experience so unpleasant. Wild horses wouldn't pull me back on a diesel coach, but I might be tempted with this. Maybe a follow-up on how real passengers think. Plus is there a toilet?