MEDCOM has manufactured more than 150 drives for electric buses and is planning to double production by the end of the year.
Cooperation with the Solaris company has made MEDCOM one of the largest manufacturers of drives for e-buses in Europe.
In terms of the number of devices already manufactured and current contracts, the Polish manufacturer has out-performed companies such as Volvo and ABB. Electric buses equipped with MEDCOM’s solutions already operate in over a dozen cities in Poland, as well as several European countries, including Germany, Italy, Romania, Belgium, Spain, France, and Scandinavian countries.
Products for electric buses constitute about 10% of MEDCOM’s sales in the electric vehicle market, while the remaining 90% are generated mainly by tram and railway contracts.
MEDCOM board vice-president Piotr Wroński says: “We offer power electronics for all kinds of electric vehicles in public transport, above all for railway vehicles. However, the electric bus market is growing fast and is therefore becoming increasingly attractive. E-buses have expanded our project portfolio, which gives us a great chance to develop more rapidly and diversify orders.
“MEDCOM is present on five continents and in more than 30 countries, so we are naturally searching for new outlets and alternative sales channels. We are becoming more active in the countries in which we are already known thanks to our earlier railway or tram projects.
“We are seeking new contracts, building an outlet market, and collecting purchase declarations, and we are already fulfilling our first independent bus contracts, among others in the United States and Turke.”
MEDCOM began working on its own bus drive in 2013 based on its experience in the manufacture of drives for other types of electric vehicles. The first serial product of this type for e-buses left the Warsaw factory in 2014.
Now, the Polish manufacturer offers a whole variety of solutions for the European bus market, including drives for systems with a central motor and motors in hubs, drive inverters integrated with auxiliary power supply converters using silicon carbide (SiC) technology, as well as battery chargers for e-buses and charging stations.
Joanna Nichthauser at MEDCOM says: “Last year, we delivered the first chargers in Poland manufactured using silicon carbide (SiC) components to Jaworzno. It is a technology developed by only a few companies in the world, and not all of them can boast practical applications of it.
“In the European market, we are competitive not only thanks to our innovation, but above all, the high quality of our products, which demonstrate above-average efficiency, energy efficiency, and reliability, which is of great significance to operators. After the first few years of use, our devices are praised for their high reliability.”
In 2017, MEDCOM completed the expansion of its manufacturing plant and can now double its production capacity. The expected increase in employment may be as high as 50% over the next three years. The company is planning to create dozens of new jobs, mainly for assembly technicians, in 2018 alone.