Vectia was founded as an electric bus manufacturing company by Spanish Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF group) and coach builder Castrosua in 2013. Some years later the public entity SODENA (Sociedad de Desarrollo de Navarra) became a shareholder as well. Vectia is based in Santiago de Compostela, Castejón, y San Sebastián.
The company focuses on hybrid (diesel or gas) and full-electric buses with different charging concepts which include plug-in (overnight) charging at the depot, opportunity charging via roof-mounted pantograph or inverted pantograph as well as inductive charging concepts. In-motion-charging via overhead charging had alr¡so been considered although not put into practice.
The electric bus models
The midibus model „Teris.10“ had previously been developed and marketed by Castrosua itself as „Tempus“ model while the 12-meter model „Veris.12“ was introduced new in 2016. Since its foundation, Vectia has sold more than 100 buses of both types, mainly to Spanish operators. The „Veris.12“ operate in cities like Valladolid, Sevilla, Pamplona, Lérida, Sabadell, Burgos, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Elche, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Irún, Tres Cantos, San Sebastián, while the “Teris.10” can be found in Madrid, Barcelona, Tres Cantos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, among others, and also in some cities in Lithuania.
The takeover
In September 2018, CAF acquired Solaris Bus & Coach, S.A. to complement the firm’s offer of passenger transport systems in cities. Solaris already had a strong footprint in the hybrid & electric bus market. It was founded as a bus manufacturer in 1996 and it currently employs more than 2,500 workers. The company has a manufacturing capacity of more than 1,600 units / year. Today, more than 19,000 Solaris buses circulate in Europe in over 750 cities.
By acquiring 100% of Solaris’ shares, CAF made a clear statement for its future development – towards investments in environmentally friendly public transport, including buses powered by alternative drives such as electric, hybrid as well as CNG vehicles.
Solaris has been present in Spain since 2012 through its subsidiary Solaris Bus Ibérica, S.L. Spain was identified as a strategic market for the brand with the clear objective to maximize the capacities in the country. In June 2019 followed the merger of Vectia Mobility and Solaris Bus Ibérica into one new company – Solaris Bus Ibérica. The General Manager of the company is Kepa Mendikute.
Solaris Bus Ibérica continues to manufacture Vectia buses and is providing all services and maintenance activities for the Spanish market. Solaris Bus Ibérica has active projects for the delivery of Vectia buses till 2021. At the same time, operators of Vectia buses receive the full-blown technical support of Solaris Bus Iberica and of Group CAF.
