Press releases

2023/12/21

SOLARIS TO SUPPLY SOME 150 ELECTRIC BUSES IN ITALY

Solaris to deliver 105 more electric buses in Milan 

The Italian transport operator ATM Milano has concluded a new contract with Solaris for the supply of 105 electric buses. The customer has in this occasion decided to purchase 18 metre long Urbino articulated units, to be delivered starting in the first half of 2025.

The relationship between Solaris and ATM in Milan began in 2014. Since then, the Italian operator has placed orders for some 500 vehicles. In fact, since 2018, Solaris has only supplied zero-emission vehicles to Milan, making the Milan-based company one of the European operators with the largest number of Solaris zero-emission vehicles. The success of this type of projects demonstrates the confidence of the Lombardy capital's transport authorities in the CAF Group and confirms the Milanese operator's intention to completely phase out diesel buses from its fleet by the end of 2030. 

The chosen vehicle is the electric Urbino 18, a bus equipped with Solaris High Energy batteries with a total capacity of 700 kWh, which can be recharged either via pantograph or by plugging in. It should also be noted that the customer will be implementing a city infrastructure optimisation plan, which will allow the vehicles to be regularly recharged by means of chargers placed at strategic points along the route, thus guaranteeing virtually unlimited driving autonomy throughout the day. 

Solaris electric buses also in Sicily 

This contract adds to the project recently signed with AMTS Catania in Sicily to supply 42 electric buses. This order was placed by the Sicilian operator through Consip S.p.A., the Italian Procurement Hub. Consip is the umbrella organisation for the main public transport companies in Italy. Specifically, the agreement provides for the supply of 32 Urbino-12 electric units on the one hand, and 10 Urbino-18 articulated electric units on the other. These buses are scheduled for delivery from next year on. 

It is worth noting that the Sicilian city already has 7 Solaris electric buses in operation under a previous contract, which were commissioned for revenue service at the beginning of this year, and which will be joined by a second batch of 11 buses currently being delivered. 

With these two contracts, worth a total of more than €120m, Solaris is consolidating its position on the Italian market, particularly in the segment of electric and hydrogen, battery-powered bus segment. Contracts signed this year include the supply of 98 electric buses to Cagliari and 90 hydrogen buses for Venice. In addition to these orders, Solaris has been awarded the largest hydrogen bus order ever placed in Europe - for 130 hydrogen-powered buses for the city of Bologna.