More than 3 million kilometres of electric Solaris buses

As of the delivery to the client of the first battery-driven vehicle, the electric buses produced by the Polish company Solaris Bus & Coach S.A., have already covered a total distance of more than 3 million kilometres. This proves once more that Solaris is the leader in e-mobility both in Poland and in Europe!

Solaris made its first steps in the direction of e-mobility as early as in the year 2001, by presenting the Solaris Trollino trolleybus. Then, in 2006, the Solaris Urbino hybrid was demonstrated -  the first hybrid bus to be serially manufactured in Europe. The first fully electric vehicle produced in the factory near Poznań saw the light of day in 2011. The then-debuting model Urbino 8,9 LE electric has been included in the manufacturer’s permanent sales offer. In 2013, two years after its debut, serial sales of electric Solaris buses began. The first of them was sold to Klagenfurt in Austria.

Today, almost 80 electric buses with the distinctive green dachshund logo move on European roads – a number which is dynamically growing. Apart from Austria, as has been mentioned, they can be seen in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain and obviously in Poland. Since 2013 those vehicles have covered a total distance of 3 million kilometres on various routes differing in topography, occupancy rate and, diametrically, in climate conditions – covering a wide range of temperatures prevalent in frosty Scandinavia or in scorching Catalonia. Throughout this time, battery-driven Solaris buses demonstrated high quality and an equally high degree of technical performance.

Solaris perfectly fits into the global trend of developing emission-free transportation. While promoting this ecological technology, the Polish manufacturer meets the needs expressed by public transport companies all over Europe. This is best evidenced by a new inflow of orders for more than 100 electric buses at Bolechowo. In the near future, contracts will be executed for the supply of battery-driven Solaris buses to, among others, Italy, Germany, France, Norway, Romania and Poland. Among these are the first electric buses adapted to the purposes of blood collection in the world, which have been ordered by the Regional Blood Donation and Hemotherapy Centre in Katowice.

As of the moment of the debut of the first electric Solaris bus, the manufacturer’s product portfolio has been substantially widened with reference to emission-free vehicles. Currently, clients can choose among several lengths (ranging from 8.9 metres to 12, 18 and 18.75 metres) and charging systems (plug-in, pantograph, inductive charging and hydrogen fuel cells as range extender). The manufacturer seated in Bolechowo also offers two types of batteries in its ecological vehicles – Solaris High Power and Solaris High Energy, as well as two drives: an electric axle with integrated engines or a central engine. Owing to this, and a feasibility study performed at the client’s individual request, each electric Solaris bus is a genuinely tailor-made vehicle adjusted to the various needs of each customer. What is more important, however, is that all of the mentioned solutions have already been put into practice in vehicles delivered to clients covering a distance of 3 million kilometres!