Electric bus manufacturer and fleet lifecycle services since 1882
HESS AG manufactures electric buses and trolleybuses at scale—around 2,400 units annually across five continents—while operating a full lifecycle business spanning repairs, spare parts, and fleet monitoring. The tech stack reflects a manufacturing-heavy organization: CODESYS and MATLAB for embedded systems design, CAN for vehicle networking, and recently cloud-based vehicle data processing. Current hiring pressure is manufacturing-focused (27 of 47 open roles), with engineering and operations roles trailing, suggesting production ramp-up is outpacing engineering iteration.
HESS AG is a Swiss bus manufacturer founded in 1882, now in its fifth generation of family ownership. The company designs and produces electric buses up to 25 meters long, including the modular CO-BOLT system and the lighTram battery or battery-trolleybus variants. Operations span design, manufacturing at the Bellach headquarters (450 employees), spare-parts logistics, full-fleet lifecycle management, and vehicle-service contracts. Production occurs through direct manufacturing and licensed partners. The business serves public transit operators and fleet managers across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.
HESS produces electric buses and trolleybuses (up to 25m), including the CO-BOLT modular platform and lighTram battery-trolleybus. The company also offers lifecycle management, spare-part service, repairs, and custom vehicle buildouts for utility trucks up to 3.5t.
HESS manufactures approximately 2,400 buses per year in partnership with licensed manufacturers, with over 1,200 employees worldwide and a 450-person headquarters in Bellach, Switzerland.
HESS employs CODESYS for embedded systems, MATLAB and Simulink for simulation, CAN for vehicle networking, and recently adopted cloud-based systems for vehicle data processing and fleet monitoring across their electric drivetrain and trolleybus platforms.
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