Poland / Germany – Solaris Bus & Coach SA of Bolechowo, Poland has won a tender to deliver this year three articulated electric buses to Bonn, making it Solaris’s first order from local operator, SWB. The customer selected the Urbino 18 electric featuring the company’s new generation of Solaris High Energy+ batteries. This battery specification was necessary to meet a key condition of the operator, which required the producer to ensure a range of 200km on a single charge, regardless of weather and road conditions, and for a period exceeding 12 years.

Subsequently, the Solaris buses for Bonn are to feature seven packs of batteries of the latest High Energy+ battery generation offering a total of 553kWh nominal capacity. This capacity, says Solaris, based on the terrain and conditions is expected to cover the required 200 kilometres irrespective of weather or road conditions, with the heating or the air-conditioning switched on and with a full set of passengers on board. The Solaris HE+ batteries have been developed and designed by Solaris. They are being built by BMZ Polska (BMZ Poland –  a Polish subsidiary of the 25 year-old German lithium-ion battery company, BMZ Group of Karlstein, Frankfurt am Main. In addition to Poland, the BMZ Group has manufacturing facilities in China and the USA, with more than 200,000 square meters of production space). This is one of a few initial contracts deploying the Solaris HE+ batteries, the first contract with Solaris HE+ batteries was signed with Nuremburg last year. Solaris says there are several other contracts in the pipeline that will also deploy these batteries. The Solaris offer to Bonn covers not only the production of vehicles but also a warranty package. The electric buses will be fuelled only by “green” energy, i.e. power derived from renewable sources.