Italy: Bolzano orders twelve Solaris FC buses

The Italian city of Bolzano was the first to purchase the Urbino 12 hydrogen H2 bus from Solaris. The fuel cell buses follow the battery-electric buses delivered last year. Solaris has also sold further battery-powered buses in Norway.

+ + Kindly see all recent updates below. + +

Polish bus manufacturer Solaris has found its first customer for their new Urbino 12 hydrogen bus. The operator SASA Bolzano decided to buy twelve vehicles, as the manufacturer announced. The order also included an eight-year maintenance and service package.

The buses feature a 60 kW fuel cell and several batteries. The batteries are charged either during braking by recuperation or via the fuel cell or plug.  Hydrogen can also be refuelled at the appropriate charging stations. The bus is propelled by an axle with two integrated electric motors, with an output of 125 kW each. Solaris indicates a range of up to 350 kilometres. Further details on the vehicle will be available at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Stockholm from 9 to 12 June, where the hydrogen bus will be officially presented.

SASA already operates several battery-electric Urbino buses that were delivered last year. Other Urbino electric buses will soon be operating in Norway, where Solaris has received several orders: Four fully electric 12-metre buses will soon be added to the Norgesbuss fleet in Oslo. A Urbino 8.9 LE electric, Solaris’s first electric model, is going to Sorlandsruta in southern Norway. Also, in southern Norway, two further Urbino 12 electric models were ordered by the Kristiansand-based transport company Boreal.

Since the Urbino 8.9 LE electric launch in 2011, the company has reported that it has received orders for more than 400 electric vehicles. They operate in 61 cities in 17 countries. And another city should be added shortly: According to Solaris, another contract has been signed in Poland. Ten Urbino 12 electric buses and the associated charging infrastructure are being prepared for delivery on behalf of the Radom Municipal Road and Public Transport Authority. The order is to be processed by mid-June 2020.

Update 30 July 2019: It is now clear who will supply the drive system for the fuel cell buses. Ballard Power Systems has announced that Solaris has ordered them to supply the fuel cell technology for the twelve Urbino 12 hydrogen buses ordered by Bolzano. The fuel cell module FCmove-HD will be used.

Update 17 October 2019: Agility Fuel Solutions, an offshoot of Hexagon Composites, has received an order from Solaris. This includes the supply of hydrogen tanks for the twelve Urbino 12 hydrogens that Solaris will deliver to Bolzano.

Update 17 May 2021: Solaris commences delivery of the twelve hydrogen buses ordered around two years ago for the northern Italian city of Bolzano. Operator SASA Bolzano was the first customer to opt for the Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen.

Other cities in Europe followed since. These include most recently Frankfurt am Main in Germany, and Austria’s Postbus Ag that ordered 40 hydrogen buses earlier this year. Solaris also signed a contract with Arriva Netherlands to deliver ten hydrogen buses to Gelderland province. Furthermore,
Transdev also commissioned Solaris to build two hydrogen buses for operation in the Swedish city of Sandviken from autumn 2021.

Additional reporting by Nora Manthey.

greencarcongress.com, solarisbus.com (Italy), greencarcongress.com, solarisbus.com (Norway), ballard.com (update), hexagongroup.com (update), solarisbus.com (update May 2021)