The Polish city of Cracow has ordered 50 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses, along with 50 plug-in charging stations. The city’s transit agency, MPK, already operates 400 Solaris buses, including 28 electric buses.

The new vehicles will be delivered within a year. The order is worth approximately 36 million euros. MPK was awarded an EU subsidy of 110 million Polish Zlotys (24 million euros) for the purchase of the vehicles.

Cracow’s new 141-passenger articulated e-buses feature electric axles with integrated electric motors, made by ZF. They can use one of two recharging devices: a 4-pole roof-mounted pantograph or a plug-in charger.

Cracow Mayor Jacek Majchrowski said the new buses will service 4 bus lines running through the Three Bards’ Avenues, an area that suffers from some of the city’s worst air pollution. “We are proud that we have a real impact on the improvement of air quality in Cracow,” says Petros Spinaris, Deputy CEO of Solaris Bus & Coach.

A little further north, transit agency Vy Buss, in the Norwegian town of Drammen, has ordered 22 Volvo e-buses. The town already has a fully electrified bus line served by 6 Volvo 7900 Electric buses, which were delivered at the beginning of 2019.

Last year, the town signed a deal with EVSE supplier Ekoenergetyka to install up to 15 inverted pantograph stations that will be able to deliver power levels up to 450 kW, with an option for 10 more. The agency already operates two 300 kW top-down panto chargers from Siemens.

Sources: (Poland story) Sustainable Bus, (Norway story) Sustainable Bus