The hydrogen bus Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen is being tested again in Austria. After successful test runs in Vienna in June, the bus was handed over to the Dr. Richard Group, the largest private bus operator in Austria, which presented the vehicle in St. Pölten on 7 July 2020.

The Dr. Richard Group has been dealing with emission-free mobility for a few years now. Over the course of numerous tests of battery buses we were able to gain a valuable insight into their practical operation and implementation. Now, for the first time ever, we have a chance to test a hydrogen-powered Solaris bus. The longer the distances to be covered and the heavier the vehicle itself, the more important this type of driveline is becoming, also in terms of resources needed to refuel. The relatively high costs still remain a barrier to a large-scale implementation of this particularly environment-friendly technology, but we look forward to the test which constitutes a significant milestone on our path to green mobility.

—Dr. Ludwig Richard, owner and president of the Dr. Richard Group

The Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen buses use a set of fuel cells with a power of 70 kW. The hydrogen is stored in gaseous form in five new-generation tanks mounted on the bus roof. The set of type 4 composite tanks (of the latest generation available on the market), placed longitudinally above the first axle of the vehicle, has a total volume of 1560 liters.

The bus is also fitted with a Solaris High Power battery acting as an additional electric power storage facility.

The Dr. Richard Group is the biggest family-run carrier in Austria with a fleet of nearly 1000 buses, including the vehicles made by Solaris. The cooperation of the two firms started back in 2010.