Electric Solaris Urbino runs for European “Bus of the Year” title

The latest edition of the Bus Euro Test will be held in Brussels from 30 May until 3 June. Its objective is to select the best city bus available in Europe in 2017. Solaris, too, participates in the contest, entering its new-generation electric Solaris Urbino 12 in the competition.

The Bus of The Year contest, quite literally aimed at choosing the best city bus there is, has been organised continually since 1989. The vehicle to win the contest is awarded the title of best bus for the subsequent year, which in this particular case means 2017. The organiser of the event is the Association of Commercial Vehicle Editors (ACE) – an association of editors of periodicals on utility vehicles, including buses. The competition is held every two years and each time the host of the event is another member of the jury. Six automobile makers have been invited to this year’s edition of the Bus Euro Test, taking place in Brussels, and Solaris is one of the chosen few.

“We have entered an innovative electric bus for the Bus Euro Test 2016. Back in 2006 the founder and owner of Solaris, Mr Krzysztof Olszewski, declared “Diesel has died. Long live electricity!”. Today we are proving that these visionary words have been turned into reality. For over a dozen years our firm has been a European leader for the development of innovative buses with an electric propulsion. We have been manufacturing trolleybuses since 2001 and buses running on electric batteries since 2011. These have been driving on the streets of dozens of European cities. Equipped with various types of batteries and battery-charging systems, our vehicles work for up to 24 hours. The solutions applied are tailored to our customers’ wishes. We believe electric buses are the future of city transport. Of course, they will not replace other vehicles used in public transport altogether, but they constitute an excellent, completely emission-free and totally noiseless complement, nonetheless,” Dr. Andreas Strecker, CEO of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. explains.

The new Solaris Urbino 12 electric, which will be the subject of evaluation by jury members from 20 countries, is equipped with 240 kWh batteries. They can be charged in two ways: using a pantograph, for instance during a stopover at a bus stop, or by way of stationary charger at the bus depot, using a plug-in. The electric bus will be charged by the 80kW, new generation charger by Ekoenergetyka-Polska. The mobile-plug-in charger is plugged to the custom-made charging post with a pantograph. This flexibility allows to widen the driving range of the electric Urbino, rendering it practically unlimited.

Solaris has already supplied vehicles of this type to Barcelona, Berlin or Hamburg, and in Poland to Inowrocław, Jaworzno, Cracow, Ostrołęka and Warsaw.

This year’s edition of the Bus of The Year contest is not the first in which the Polish bus manufacturer has participated: the firm presented its Solaris Urbino of the third generation with an internal combustion engine at the Bus Euro Test in 2004. Back then Solaris’ candidate would have won by a hair’s breadth.

“I reckon that after over 10 years we have proven that Solaris buses are a mature and, simultaneously, incredibly innovative product and we are looking forward to the competition for this prestigious title,” Dr. Andreas Strecker noted.