Yutong delivers Bucharest’s latest battery-powered trolleybuses

The trolleybus procurement tender announced by the Romanian capital earlier this year concluded with a surprising result, as the contract for the delivery of 22 units was ultimately awarded to Anadolu Automobil Rom, which bid with Chinese Yutong vehicles. An interesting aspect of the public procurement is that neither Solaris – which delivered one hundred Trollino trolleybuses to Bucharest in 2024 – nor the Czech Škoda Group submitted a bid, even though the quantity to be ordered was significant from an industry perspective.

This order also marks a milestone for the Chinese manufacturer, as it will be Yutong’s first delivery in this segment to a European market. The success in Bucharest is particularly significant given that the European trolleybus market is increasingly contracting, making it extremely difficult for new players to gain a foothold, especially alongside traditionally dominant manufacturers like Solaris, Škoda, or Hess. Yutong also participated in the Budapest tender for the procurement of up to 160 vehicles in partnership with Ikarus; according to spring information, the Hungarian-Chinese pair was one of the most likely bidders, although the result of the public procurement is still unknown. So far, the Chinese manufacturer has primarily been present in the European market with battery-powered electric buses, so the Romanian contract could open a new chapter in expanding the company’s positions in the region.

According to the Bucharest contract, the Romanian capital will purchase a total of 22 Yutong solo trolleybuses, each 12 meters long, two-axle, and capable of accommodating 93 people, through Anadolu Automobil Rom, with a delivery deadline of ten months. The technical basis of the proposed vehicles is the Chinese manufacturer’s U12 type marketed as a premium product, in such a way that the manufacturer does not employ the traditional trolleybus electric drive system, but rather uses the purely electric U12 bus platform, to which the trolleybus-compatible overhead wire architecture has been adapted to its high-voltage drive system. Since the vehicle’s drive system is derived from the electric base model, the trolleybus version also uses the permanent magnet synchronous electric motor employed in the U12 e-bus, in a central arrangement. Thanks to the onboard energy storage, the vehicles will be capable of traveling at least 20 kilometers independently without network supply.

The manufacturer provides a comprehensive warranty for the new trolleybuses for six years. The net value of the contract is 70.4 million lei, and the project is financed by non-refundable European Union funds, under the Romanian Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).