Solaris Bus & Coach, a producer of city and intercity buses in Europe, has received two substantial orders from different sources: one for mild hybrid buses, the other for hydrogen buses.
The Municipal Transport Company of Krakow (Poland) has selected Solaris as the supplier of 37 low-emission buses through a tender process. The low-floor and air-conditioned, 12-meter-long vehicles will replace the oldest vehicles in Krakow’s municipal fleet. Twenty-five of these new mild hybrid buses will be designed to serve city lines, while the remaining 12 will serve agglomeration routes. Deliveries are scheduled for the first half of 2025.
The mild hybrid system applied in these vehicles consists of an internal combustion engine supported by an electric machine working as a generator of electric current. The machine takes the strain off the combustion engine, which results in fuel savings and lower exhaust emissions.
This system is based on energy recovery technology; during braking, energy is recovered and stored in an energy storage facility. The energy is used when the engine is under greater strain, such as during acceleration. At that moment, the machine acts as an electric motor. As a result, mild hybrids release fewer pollutants and are more environmentally friendly, while ensuring considerable flexibility.
Solaris buses have been present in Krakow for more than 20 years. During this time, almost 600 of the vehicles have hit the streets of this city, and a large number of them are zero-emission vehicles. The mild hybrid buses from the latest order will be Krakow ‘s first Solaris vehicles with this propulsion system, but the product is already familiar to the operator — in summer 2023, four-week tests were carried out on Krakow’s lines.
The second order received by Solaris came from the German carrier Oberbergische Verkehrgesellschaft (OVAG), which ordered 15 hydrogen buses. These vehicles will enhance the public transport fleet in the German city of Gummersbach. The contract will be fulfilled in 2025.
“The high interest in Solaris hydrogen buses confirms the global changes in urban mobility,” says Olivier Michard, member of Solaris’ management board for Sales and Marketing. “I am pleased that more and more cities are investing in sustainable public transport development, which is one of the few areas genuinely ready to fulfill the mission of emission neutrality. I am glad that our brand’s vehicles are a symbol of this change.”
This order includes 15 Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen buses equipped with modern fuel cells with a total power of 70 kW. These hydrogen Solaris buses will feature Solaris High Power traction batteries, which support the fuel cell during peak electricity demand. The drive unit will be a 160-kW central electric motor, and the buses will be heated using a heat pump.