Opole oders 5 Solaris e-buses & charging equipment

The Polish city of Opole has ordered five electric buses including charging infrastructure from Solaris. The five Urbino 12 electric buses are to be delivered to the city’s transport operator Miejski Zakład Komunikacyjny (MZK) in Opole in the first half of 2022.

++ This article has been updated; please continue reading below. ++

Along with the electric buses, the city will receive a pantograph charging station and three plug-in charging stations for the depot. The contract also includes the installation work.

According to Solaris, the total value of the order is just under 19 million zloty, which is equivalent to about 4.1 million euros. For operator MZK, these will be the first electric vehicles in its bus fleet.

The five Urbino 12 electric buses ordered will have a power output of 160 kW each, with Solaris High Energy batteries. These will be offered in the Urbino 12 electric in configurations from 120 to 240 kWh. The plan is to charge the quintet in Opole during the day using a top-down pantograph and to plug it in at the depot to charge it at night.

Solaris says that the buses can be thermally preconditioned during the charging process. The vehicles offer 28 seats and three double doors. Passengers will have access to WLAN and USB charging sockets.

Solaris buses are popular in its home market in Poland with numerous orders in the last 12 months. “It is impressive to see the network of zero-emission transport in Poland developing so dynamically,” says Petros Spinaris, Deputy CEO of Solaris Bus & Coach. Solaris also dominates the entire European market with a share of 25% of all zero-emission buses. So far in the first quarter of this year, Solaris has delivered zero-emission buses to Berlin, and received orders from Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania and the Netherlands. Solaris has a number of battery-electric buses in series production, but also hydrogen fuel cell buses, which account for the above-mentioned orders in Austria and the Netherlands.

Update 21 October 2022

Transport operator MZK in Opole, Poland, has placed a follow-up order with Solaris. MZK expects delivery of six Urbino 12 electric and two Urbino 18 electric together with charging infrastructure from mid-2023.

As with the previous order described above, the new buses will charge during service at the terminus in Kazimierza Pużaka Street and via CCS at the depot at Luboszycka 19 Street at night.

The city had ordered the first five electric buses including charging infrastructure from Solaris in 2021. After delivery of the latest order, Opole will have 13 zero-emission buses in service, including the first articulated e-buses in the Urbino 18.

solarisbus.com, solarisbus.com (update Oct ’22)