Iveco Bus and Solaris set to win electric bus tender in Milan

Last autumn, the Milan public transport company ATM invited tenders for the procurement of a total of 340 battery buses. According to Italian media, the winners of two of the three lots have been determined.

According to the Italian trade portal Autobusweb, Iveco Bus has been awarded the contract to supply 205 electric 12-metre buses. The contract for 105 battery buses with a length of 18 metres goes to Solaris. Both lots had a rather unusual requirement of three and four doors. Usually, the twelve-metre solo buses are ordered with two double doors and the longer articulated buses with three. However, ATM had specified one more door in the tender.

The Autobusweb article does not say anything about the third lot. In lot 3, ATM invited tenders for 30 electric buses with a length of about 12 metres in two- and three-door configurations. These vehicles will be delivered within three years. In lots 1 and 2, the duration is 200 months – as they include the delivery of the vehicles and full-service maintenance during operation.

ATM already has Solaris electric buses in its fleet, and Autobusweb sees the follow-up order as renewed confirmation of its trust. But: It is the first order for the electric articulated bus Urbino 18 Electric from Italy, so it is still a premiere. Iveco Bus, on the other hand, will deliver electric buses to Milan for the first time.

There were five and four bidders, respectively, for the two lots, according to the report. In addition to Solaris and Iveco Bus, BYD and Daimler Buses also participated in the solo and articulated buses tender. The Dutch manufacturer Ebusco was only interested. Details on the individual manufacturers’ bids are unknown, but according to Autobusweb, Daimler Buses, with the eCitaro or eCitaro G, is said to have come last in both cases. Manufacturers such as Irizar, MAN or VDL did not apply.

In February 2022, the Milan City Council cleared the way for 249 million euros for ATM’s fleet renewal programme to procure 350 new electric buses and the infrastructure for them by June 2026.

autobusweb.com (in Italian), sustainable-bus.com