SOLARIS

Company to present a new 15 metre electric bus

This will be the low-entry Solaris Urbino 15 LE electric. The tri-axle bus is built mainly with customers of the Scandinavian market in mind. The vehicle will be available both as a typical city bus (class I) and also as an intercity bus (class II).
Solaris offered its first tri-axle buses of 15 metres already back in 1999. However, these were models based on conventional diesel and CNG engines. In total Solaris has delivered almost 1300 units of that type. This year, the producer decided to devise a new generation of the Solaris Urbino 15 LE model - available only with an electric drive.
The Solaris Urbino 15 LE electric will be offered either with two or with three doors (2-2-0 or 2-2-1 layout), and it will be able to carry up to 55 passengers seated on the bus. Energy will be stored in Solaris High Energy+ batteries of the latest generation, boasting extremely high energy density and a capacity that will ensure an adequate travel distance both on city and on intercity routes. Two battery charging modes will be possible, depending on the users' preferences, involving either a plug-in charger or a roof-mounted pantograph on the bus.



Over the next weeks, the company will finish the design stage regarding the new vehicle and it will launch production of two pre-series buses. One ought to highlight at this point, that even now operators from one Scandinavian country have confirmed their interest in testing the vehicles in real road conditions.
“Despite the fact that we are building this model mainly for the Scandinavian markets, we are obviously not limited to offering this bus in these countries only. It will be available to all operators who are searching for a Low Entry, tri-axle buses for urban and intercity transport. It is also a completely zero-emission alternative for CNG buses,” said Petros Spinaris, Deputy CEO of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.
More technical details on the Solaris Urbino 15 LE electric will be disclosed in April this year.

Autonews/Mundoquatrorodas