The deal, understood to be worth KRW13trn (USD9.4bn), comes a year after the two companies decided to scrap plans to build a battery manufacturing joint venture in Turkey due to weakening demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe.

The ‘Urbino 24’ double-articulated buses will serve on bus rapid transit routes in the city.

Transdev says it will deploy them in the Province of Utrecht in the central Netherlands.

The new highly automated 16,000 sqm battery pack manufacturing facility produces lithium-ion batteries for heavy-duty applications.

The company will use the funds to add automation capabilities to the production lines by introducing robots. This will increase the production capacity of its Zielona Góra factory, in order to meet the growing demand for EV chargers in Europe.

Somewhere in the industrial estate of a small city in western Poland, there is a charging station which was installed by me. The site of the installation was near the headquarters of Ekoenergetyka, the manufacturer of the charging station in question, and the hosts of a conference which brought together several hundred guests involved or interested in the development of Europe’s charging infrastructure. The event, organised by an industry association called CharIn, was the third such conference and “testival” to have taken place in Europe since 2023.

The first Urbino was unveiled on 26 May 1999 at the Poznań Motor Show – since then, over 25,000 units have rolled off the production line at the Bolechowo factory.

Daimler Buses and BMZ are set to co-develop new generation (NMC4) e-bus batteries to be equipped in Daimler Buses. Improvements in cell chemistry, life cycle and energy density should result in longer range and battery longevity.  

The total value of the orders, including 10-year service contracts, amounts to EUR200m, making it one of the largest in the company’s history, according to Solaris.

The contract for 15 buses is worth over EUR10m and includes the provision of 15 stationary chargers at the depot and two pantograph stations located in the city.

Some 1,000 units are to be made up of approximately 800, FCmove-HD 70 kW and 200, FCmove-HD+ 100 kW engines which will be integrated into the Solaris 12-metre and 18-metre buses. Included in the contract are after-market and extended warranty services. Delivery will occur from 2024 to 2027.

The Polish company sold a total of 1,456 vehicles in 2023, of which 82% were fitted with alternative drivelines, according to figures reported during an online press conference in March.