Representatives of the City of Szczecin and of Solaris Bus & Coach have signed a contract for the purchase of 8 Urbino 18 electric buses. The electric buses will be delivered to Szczecin by the end of September 2021. The contract is worth PLN 32 million (nearly €8 million).

The articulated electric buses will be equipped with 182 kWh Solaris High Power batteries. These are energy storage units designed for fast-charging and they work perfectly in a dynamic urban traffic. An electric axle with two integrated electric motors will provide a comfortable, smooth ride. The buses can be charged in two ways: by plug-in or by a roof-mounted pantograph of up to 560 kW.

The buses will feature ignition interlock devices measuring the driver’s breath alcohol content before starting the vehicle. One particular novel solution incorporated into the bus will be on-deck monitoring integrated with the urban surveillance network.

The electric buses for Szczecin will also feature a roof-mounted photovoltaic panel. This panel will constitute an additional source of power feeding into the passenger information system. Travel comfort will be provided by air-conditioning of the whole vehicle, electric heating and access to on-board Wi-Fi.

Additionally, the Solaris Urbino 18 electric designated for Szczecin will be equipped with eSConnect software. A bus fleet management system of Solaris’ own design, crafted by an inter-disciplinary team of experts of Solaris, the eSConnect optimizes the operation and servicing of buses, whereas the many functionalities of that system include among others monitoring the bus fleet in real time, and the technical parameters of the vehicles as such.

Solaris has been collaborating with Szczecin since 2004. In these 16 years, the manufacturer has delivered 150 buses in total, of varying lengths: 10, 12 and 18 meters, both with diesel and hybrid engines. The latest commission is the first comprising electric buses.