Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne S.A. in Kraków will be testing an electric bus manufactured by Solaris Bus & Coach for the next year. The companies have signed a lease agreement for the Solaris Urbino 12 electric, and the test results will be used by Kraków’s MPK to make decisions regarding the purchase of a larger number of electric buses.
For the next twelve months, MPK in Kraków will lease a Solaris electric bus. The vehicle, powered by electricity, is very quiet and completely emission-free. The batteries storing the energy have a total capacity of 210 kWh, and they will be charged during the bus’s overnight stay at the depot on Walerego Sławka Street. A 100 kW charger was also provided by the Solaris company. The vehicle’s electric drive motors are mounted on its rear axle, which means there is no special platform inside, and the number of seats accessible from the low floor is greater than in the standard Solaris Urbino models well known to Kraków’s MPK passengers.
– In the coming years, investments in completely emission-free public transport seem inevitable. Kraków is also joining this pan-European trend of relieving city centers from combustion-engine vehicles. Especially since the pollution produced by passenger cars is the main cause of smog in Kraków, which is rarely talked or written about – emphasizes Julian Pilszczek, President of MPK S.A. in Kraków.
The electric Solaris will be tested on line no. 154, which runs from the Main Railway Station East (Dworzec Główny Wschód) to Prądnik Biały. Charging, which will take place at night, will be completely sufficient for a full day of the vehicle’s operation. The standard fare for public transport in Kraków applies on the bus.
To date, Solaris has sold its electric vehicles to Klagenfurt (Austria), Braunschweig, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg (Germany), as well as to Västerås (Sweden).