Solaris electric buses bound for Serbia & Poland

Novi Sad will be the first Serbian city with Solaris electric buses. The transport company JGSP Novi Sad has ordered ten Solaris Urbino 12 Electric buses from the Polish manufacturer, including the charging infrastructure. Solaris has also received another order from Poland.

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The Urbino 12 Electric vehicles ordered for Serbia will be equipped with 160 kW central motors and high-power batteries from the Polish manufacturer. The batteries have a total capacity of 90 kWh and can be charged both by plug and by pantograph. Deliveries of the vehicles are scheduled to be completed in early 2023.

In terms of charging infrastructure, Solaris will supply five plug-in chargers and three pantograph charging stations. Solaris says that the total order value is 6.2 million euros. The purchase of the electric vehicles was financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development under the “Green Cities Framework 2 W2 – Novi Sad Electric Buses” project.

While the future deployment of Solaris electric buses will be the first in the country, JGSP Novi Sad and Solaris have been working together for some time: JGSP Novi Sad has already bought six Urbino 12 CNGs from the bus maker.

The manufacturer says that the first buses arrived in Serbia in 2011, and that more than 200 buses have been delivered to the country so far. Solaris says that across Europe, more than 1,200 Urbino electric buses are now in operation.

Meanwhile, Solaris has also received an order from Poland. The manufacturer will deliver three Urbino 12 Electric to the city of Zakopane within a year. The contract also includes a supply of two depot chargers, two pantograph charging stations and a mobile charger. The value of the contract amounts to 2.6 million euros (PLN 12 million).

“Zakopane is one of the most beautiful and most visited tourist destinations in Poland. We are very pleased that more Solaris electric vehicles will provide their services to both city residents and tourists,” Petros Spinaris, Solaris board member responsible for sales, marketing and aftersales. “We are very proud that it is precisely our solutions that are helping to promote zero-emission public transport in this unique place.”

The buses for Zakopane will be equipped with Solaris High Energy batteries with a capacity of over 350 kWh. MobilEye and MirrorEye systems will ensure optimal visibility in the mountainous terrain of the Podhale region with extreme changeable weather conditions.

Solaris also has a long-standing cooperation with the city in the Tatra Mountains. In 2013, the electric Urbino was tested in Zakopane. In 2016, Solaris delivered four Urbino 8.9 LE to Zakopane based on the contract with the municipal company Tesko. The shortest of all Solaris zero-emission buses, these models were used on the first regular bus routes in the city’s history.

Update 5 April 2022:

Solaris has just revealed another order from Poland: 17 Solaris electric buses will join the fleet in the Polish city of Grudziądz in the first quarter of 2023. Following the tender won by MZK Grudziądz, Solaris will not only supply the Urbino 12 Electric buses to the city, but also the associated charging infrastructure.

Solaris also secured an order for 87 hybrid buses to be used in the Barcelona metropolitan region. Deliveries of the 12-metre Urbino 12 Hybrid will start in November 2023. More than 100 Solaris buses are already on the road in the Barcelona metropolitan region, including almost 90 hybrid and 19 electric buses.

Update 23 June 2023

Ten electric buses are now in service in Serbia’s second largest city, Novi Sad. The ten Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses ordered last year by the transport company JGSP Novi Sad from the Polish manufacturer Solaris have now been delivered. In addition to the electric buses, Solaris also supplied the charging infrastructure. During the day, the batteries of the electric buses are supplied with power via three pantograph charging stations at the bus loops and at night at five chargers in the depot. According to earlier information, the contract was worth €6.2 million.

solarisbus.com (Serbia), solarisbus.com (Poland), update: solarisbus.com (Poland), solarisbus.com (Spain), solarisbus.com (Serbia)