Solaris to unveil the Urbino 12 hydrogen at UITP summit in Stockholm

Solaris bets on fuel cell technology and is ready to unveil, at UITP Public Transport Global Summit 2019, the Urbino 12 hydrogen. But this won’t be the only premiere that the Polish manufacturer will release in Stockholm: also the latest version of the Solaris Urbino 12 Electric will be presented. Novelties involve only the design.

The hydrogen bus will be tested by RATP

During the UITP Global Public Transport Summit, representatives of Solaris and Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) will sign a contract for lease and tests of the Urbino 12 hydrogen. The operator responsible for public transport in Paris will test the Solaris hydrogen bus in regular passenger traffic for 10 weeks (first half of 2020).

Solaris to unveil the Urbino 12 hydrogen

The Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen is a world-wide première. The launch was announced in 2018. The energy needed to propel the bus is derived from hydrogen stored in bus roof-mounted tanks. By means of a fuel cell, the hydrogen gas is turned into electricity. In turn, that power is feeding directly the bus driveline which consists of an axle with electric engines (the ZF AxTrax mounted also on the battery electric Urbino and on the Mercedes eCitaro). The bus is also fitted with a Solaris High Power battery which acts as an additional electric power storage facility. According to the information released in June 2018, the Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen has 29.2 kWh battery capacity.

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2019 will be the year of Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen

Fuel cell bus by Solaris is also one of the topic of the interview realized by Sustainable Bus with Mateusz Figaszewski, director e-mobility development in Solaris (you can watch it HERE or below).

A new design for Solaris Urbino electric

The second vehicle to be unveiled at the Solaris stand in Stockholm will be the “post-facelift” Solaris Urbino 12 electric. The Solaris city bus generation currently on offer was displayed for the first time in 2014. The electric bus was awarded the Bus of the Year 2017. Just yesterday, Solaris announced it will deliver ten Urbino electric to Polish city of Radom

The post-facelift Solaris Urbino 12 electric, Solaris points out, shows a new front lighting system, fully based on LED technology. The existing five headlights (main-beam headlamp, dipped-beam (passing) headlamp, fog lamp, direction indicators and position lamps) have been replaced by three headlights.

The new design of the bus front is also aimed at improving the driver’s field of vision. The new shape of the front wall means a more optimal aerodynamics of the bus, Solaris claims, while the changed shape of the roof guards means a more effective assembly and simpler maintenance as well as better disposal of water from the bus roof. Finally, visibility of the front destination display for passengers has been enhanced.

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1/3 buses sold in 2018 by Solaris were low or zero emission drive

Solaris Urbino, a four years old electric bus

“Ceaseless changes on the automotive market, in particular in the bus segment, require the continuous development of products. However, progress is also motivated by growing expectations of our customers, in other words of drivers, passengers and buyers of the vehicles designed and assembled by us. That is precisely why, four years after the market launch of the existing bus generation, we have introduced a range of improvements in the design of the Solaris city buses. This lifting is of an evolutionary nature, optimising existing solutions, and it has become a standard in all our new buses produced since the beginning of 2019, explains Eng. D. Dariusz Michalak, deputy CEO of Solaris for Research and Development, Production and Logistics, and for Quality Management.