May 27 – European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef) and Dancer manufacturer have established the company Dancer Mobility to provide all-inclusive operational lease services of electric buses manufactured in Lithuania to public authorities.
eeef made the investment together with Vėjo Projektai, a Lithuanian manufacturer of electric Dancer buses, two of which have already been purchased by the City of Klaipėda in Lithuania.
The purchase of e-buses and their operation will be financed by Dancer Mobility. All-inclusive operational leases provided by Dancer Mobility to public authorities will cover bus usage, charging infrastructure, green energy supply and full maintenance.
Dancer is an innovative model of bus designed and developed entirely by young engineers of Klaipėda in cooperation with 3 European universities. It is a super-low weight (9.8 tons), fully-electric city bus with capacity of up to 93 passengers. Dancer is the lightest among its counterparts and has advanced noise reduction measures. It isconsidered to be extremely energy efficient and nearly vibration-free.
The bus also provides comfortable features for drivers, such as night vision cameras transmitting 3D simulations of the surroundings to monitors that replace mirrors. Dancer also features many technical innovations. Its rigid and secure body is made of composite materials with significant use of recycled PET bottles. An integrated outdoor rear screen increases traffic visibility for fellow drivers. The heat pump is used to cool the lithium-titanium batteries and transfer the heat to the cabin for the passengers’ comfort..The electricity for Dancer buses is purchased exclusively from wind farms.
“As CEO of an electric mobility consultancy, I have had the opportunity to visit a variety of companies in this space over the past few years. Rarely have I seen a company like Dancer which, through research and innovation, has made significant headway in a highly competitive and traditional sector composed primarily of large bus companies. This is possible due to the product’s exceptional quality standards and the ability of the management to surround itself with a highly innovative and professional team”, notes Massimo Galli CEO at EVE electric vehicle consulting company.
Dancer is a showcase example of a visionary project in the automotive industry. Sustainable public transport is considered an integral part of any city’s environmental efforts, which motivated eeef and Dancer manufacturer to collaborate on this initiative.
“Frequently, Dancer buses are compared with Tesla cars. We can surely tell that Dancer charges 15 times faster than Tesla, yet our bus can transport 20 times more passengers and consumes only 3 times more energy”, said Alvydas Naujėkas, the CEO of Vėjo Projektai, a company producing Dancer buses.
Dancer is an electric transport solution that includes e-buses, full maintenance, and green energy supply. The brand is owned and developed by company Vėjo projektai. The Lithuanian producer integrates its own research and development with proven technologies of automotive leaders such as ZF, WABCO, WÜRTH, and others. Vėjo Projektai has been developing electric buses solutions since 2012, until then, the company operated in the field of wind energy.
The European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef) S.A., SICAV-SIF is a “société d’investissement à capital variable” governed by Luxembourg law and was initiated by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Investment Bank. The initial capitalization provided by the European Commission was increased with contributions from the sponsors European Investment Bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as well as DWS.