Sono Motors announced the signing of a letter of intent (LoI) with ÖPNV-Service Hagen aiming to conclude a contract for Sono Motors’ solar retrofit solution, the Solar Bus Kit.
The companies are expected to cooperate on the Kit’s installation, after-sales and logistics services to increase assembly capacity in Europe and provide fast and professional retrofits, as well as maintenance. ÖPNV-Service has over 15 years of experience as a service provider in the public transportation sector and performs 4,000 modernizations of commercial vehicles annually.
The Solar Bus Kit is a versatile and straightforward solution, optimized for the most common 12-meter public transport bus types on the European market, including Mercedes-Benz Citaro and MAN Lion City.
It allows subsystems, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), to be partially powered by renewable energy, thereby saving fuel, CO2, and costs.
The Kit can save up to 1,500 liters of diesel and up to 4 tonnes of CO2 per bus per year from the approximately 1.4 kW peak installation with about 8 sqm of solar panels. Bus fleet operators stand to see a potential payback time of approximately 3-4 years, depending on days in operation and fuel prices.
ÖPNV-Service’s field of expertise lies in the areas of cabling, repair, maintenance, and services for public transportation. The company retrofits several thousand means of transport per year and is listed as an official supplier for various fleet operators, like Deutsche Bahn, which operates over 17,000 buses.
The current negotiations aim to conclude a contract and start operations in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Source: Sono Motors
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