Urbino 18

At Solaris, we have observed a growing interest in hydrogen-fuelled models for a few years now. Today, over 100 hydrogen buses of our brand carry passengers in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland. Other units are being manufactured and will soon roll out onto streets in cities in Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, amongst other countries.

The 12-metre hydrogen bus has been part of our portfolio for many years now. In 2022, we complemented this range by an articulated hydrogen-fuelled model. The Urbino 18 hydrogen bus was developed as a response to the increasing demand for hydrogen-powered vehicles.

We want to provide our customersn with the widest possible range of environmentally friendly vehicles, i. e. hydrogen, electric buses and trolleybuses.

The main energy source in the new Urbino 18 hydrogen is hydrogen. The heart of the bus is a cutting-edge fuel cell that acts as a miniature hydrogen power plant. Hydrogen is transformed by the fuel cell into electricity which is then transferred to the driveline. Solaris batteries with a capacity of around 60 kWh, mounted in the vehicle, serve as an auxiliary power source, used, for example, during acceleration as well as storage for recovered energy.

The vehicle doesn’t feature a conventional engine compartment as it has been equipped with a modular drive system. The space thus saved has allowed the bus maker to increase the vehicle’s passenger capacity. What is more, by eliminating the engine compartment, more space on the roof has been created, where composite light hydrogen tanks with a total capacity of 51.2 kg have been mounted. The use of a modular drive also facilitates servicing as its main components are now accessible from the floor level.

Thanks to the hydrogen technology applied and an increased number of new, light hydrogen tanks, the brand-new bus performs excellently on longer routes. It is be able to cover about 350 km on a single refill in various weather conditions. Full refuelling of the vehicle takes around 20 minutes. Depending on the configuration, the bus is be able to carry up to 140 passengers. The latest model can be type-approved as a class II vehicle, which makes it possible to deploy it on inter-city routes.

Our customers are offered the possibility of customising the bus to cater for their individual preferences. The bus is available with four door arrangements: 2-2-2-0, 1-2-2-0, 1-2-2-2 and 2-2-2-2. As standard, the new model features an air-conditioning system for the passenger compartment with a heat pump, which uses heat drawn in from outside to create the right vehicle temperature. The air conditioning in the driver’s cabin is powered by the passenger compartment unit. As regards additional features, clients may choose from a variety of solutions, for example, they may opt for ADAS, i. e. advanced driver assistance systems such as MirrorEye or MobilEye Shield+.