Poznań investing in more electric buses. 37 units to join city’s fleet

MPK Poznań has ordered 37 electric buses made by Solaris. The zero-emission vehicles will be delivered by the producer in the second half of 2021. The fleet of MPK will be expanded by state-of-the-art buses, as they will join 21 electric buses made by Solaris that have been carrying Poznań residents for a few months now.

On 28 May the representatives of the board of Solaris and the Poznań’ operator MPK signed a contract for the supply of 37 electric buses Urbino electric. 31 of them will be 12 metres long, whereas the remaining articulated 6 vehicles will be 18 metres. The contract is worth over PLN 90 million net. Pursuant to the agreement, deliveries of the innovative Solaris buses will begin in autumn 2021. 

“This is very good news for the city and its inhabitants. Further electric buses mean even more ecological public transport, cleaner air, and therefore better quality of life, and this is what we care about most”, says Jacek Jaśkowiak, Mayor of the City of Poznań. “It is not yet a year since the first e-buses came to Poznań, and more are being bought. This shows the consistency of the City and MPK Poznań in efforts to improve living conditions in the city. It is worth emphasizing that these activities are part of a wider program. We are currently preparing the Strategy for the Development of Electromobility for the City of Poznań by 2035. The main goal of the program is to support the development of the broadly defined electromobility policy and sustainable development of transport and mobility in Poznan”, he adds.

The residents of Poznań have been able to travel by battery buses made by Solaris for a few months now. 21 units of that type were delivered to MPK at the end of 2019 and at the beginning of 2020. Thanks to the new investment the electric fleet of the operator will be enlarged. New emission-free vehicles will operate on lines in densely populated city districts, which will translate to cleaner air and better life quality of the residents. 

“We strive to make public transport, both by bus and tram, increasingly accessible, attractive and ecological. With the purchase of emission-free buses we are trying to meet requirements set by the Act on e-mobility. In this day and age of environmental degradation, of cumbersome exhaust emissions and noise pollution in cities, e-mobility is a necessity“, says Wojciech Tulibacki, CEO of MPK Poznań Sp. z o.o.

“In Solaris we believe that the future of public transport will be electrically-powered, and therefore we are very pleased that MPK Poznań decided to transform its fleet opting for emission-free Urbino electric buses. Investments in sustainable urban transport will allow for a high quality of air in the city and the quality life of its residents, which makes Poznań one of the most modern metropolises in Europe“, said Petros Spinaris, Vice-President of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A., upon signing the contract. 

All 37 vehicles will be equipped with Solaris High Power batteries designed for fast charging. The Urbino 12 vehicles will feature 4 packs with a capacity of over 120 kWh, whereas the articulated units will be fitted with 6 packs boasting a capacity of over 180 kWh. Throughout the day the batteries will be recharged by means of one of a few fast pantograph chargers located at the bus terminals Os. Sobieskiego and Os. Garbary, where additional chargers will be set up in the future. What is more, charging devices will also be installed at the terminal Górczyn and the bus depot at Kacza street (currently, at night the electric vehicles are charged via a plug connector at the bus depot at Warszawska street). 

The freshly ordered Solaris buses will be equipped similarly to their predecessors. The driveline of the Urbino electric will consist of an electric axle with two integrated motors boasting a power of 125 kW each. As a novelty the bus will be fitted with a traction inverter produced in the innovative SiC technology, i.e. using silicon carbide, which will allow to reduce the energy consumption in the bus. 

The air-conditioned buses will be monitored by a system of indoor cameras and, for the first time in buses for Poznań, also, of outdoor cameras monitoring the right side of the bus and the pantograph. For the passengers’ comfort there will be a comprehensive passenger information system available on board consisting of readable modern destination displays, interior displays, a voice announcement system and screens displaying information generated by the operator. What is more, completely low-floor vehicles will have a dedicated room for wheelchairs. They will also feature space for bicycles and USB charging ports as well as external door lighting. 

Solaris is one of the leading electric bus producers in Europe. At the moment, our order volume comprises about 1000 emission-free vehicles that the producer has already sold to 18 countries. Poland ranks fifth in Europe as regards the total number of electric buses in cities. Having delivered about 70% of all electric buses to the domestic market, Solaris is the main partner for Polish cities and public transport operators in the transformation to emission-free public transport. 

In the photo (from the left): Jacek Jaśkowiak (Mayor of the City of Poznań), Petros Spinaris (Deputy CEO, Solaris Bus&Coach S.A.), Wojciech Tulibacki (CEO, MPK Poznań).