Solaris delivers its first hydrogen-powered bus to RVK
Solaris Bus & Coach (polish manufacture of buses and coaches) has confirmed to start deliveries of hydrogen-powered buses to Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH (RVK), the German regional public transport company.
Solaris has now delivered the first Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen bus, which RVK is testing in Cologne. The order was placed last year for a total of 15 buses, and it is expected that the reaming buses will be delivered by the end of this year. RVK plans to operate five buses each in Rheinisch-Bergisches Kreis district, Rhein-Sieg district, and the city of Hürth.
The 30 seat bus has 70 kW fuel cells with a driving range of 350 km on a single refill. These buses are equipped with a traction battery for boosting electric power and can recover energy during braking. The hydrogen tanks are placed above the axle. The bus has all the modern functions, including air-conditioning, CCTV, passenger information systems, USB ports for recharging devices etc. It is also equipped with safety and security features that enable it to detect potential collision risks.
The order for these buses are supported by JIVE 2, the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), NIP2 programme, and the Ministry of Transport of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Besides RVK, another German operator, WSW Mobil GmbH from Wuppertal, also ordered 10 Solaris Urbino 12 buses around the same time. Hydrogen-powered buses will keep Solaris busy for this year as it is also delivering 12 hydrogen buses to Italian operator SASA Bolzano and 20 buses to Dutch operator Connexxion this year.
