Otokar Kent

The Kent is Otokar’s city bus, and it is not one vehicle. The company’s own corporate timeline dates it to 2009 — the entry reads “KENT 12 metre şehiriçi otobüsleri” — and the name now covers lengths from 10.8 to 21 metres in diesel, natural gas, hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell and battery-electric form. The overview below is the 12-metre diesel alone — Kent LF on Otokar’s Turkish sheets — except for its axle row, which names all three axle configurations Otokar’s documents give the family. Otokar Europe’s KENT C 12 page gives the same dimensions, 12,000 x 2,550 x 3,165 mm, and the same 220 kW Cummins as the Kent LF sheet. The rest of the family sits in the notes rather than the grid, because folding every length and drive into one table would state figures belonging to different buses.

Overview and generations

Otokar’s Turkish range brochure lists Kent LF, Kent CNG, e-Kent, Kent LF Körüklü, Kent CNG Körüklü, e-Kent Körüklü and Kent XL. The Otokar Europe brochure imprinted December 2024 lists KENT C 10, 12, 18 and 21, KENT C CNG, HYBRID and HYDROGEN, e-KENT C 10, 12 and 18, and KENT U LE 12. Neither list maps cleanly onto the other, and the timeline adds a further name, KENT Electra, for the 12-metre electric bus of 2019.

Otokar’s 2024 range brochure gives its factory address at Arifiye, Sakarya. Otokar’s corporate timeline records a move to a new factory in Sakarya in 1997 and does not name a district. The timeline’s own dated entries for the Kent line: the name itself in 2009; the articulated Kent Körüklü added in 2015; the KENT Electra, a 12-metre full-electric bus, added to the family in 2019, the same year the timeline records the completed delivery of 400 Kent buses to the Municipality of Bucharest; the İzmir ESHOT tender won in 2020; the İETT metrobüs tender won in 2021; and, in 2022, the Istanbul metrobüs orders delivered and the electric family widened by two further products.

Two documents describe the 12-metre diesel Kent LF under the same name. The newer one, document code KS70TP-26, is dated May 2026 in its PDF’s own metadata. The earlier one, KS70TM-20, is dated November 2020 in its PDF’s metadata. The two sheets describe different buses — different widths, heights, front-axle ratings and gearboxes, set out below section by section.

Otokar’s Turkish range brochure presents the 12-metre Kent LF as “ideal bir belediye ve halk otobüsü” — an ideal municipal and public bus — with low operating costs and a step-free full low floor; that is the maker’s own description of the vehicle’s intended use.

Cab and body

The Kent LF sheets and the e-Kent sheet list three double-leaf, inward-opening, air-actuated doors front, middle and rear, and the articulated Kent LF Körüklü sheet four of the same type; Otokar’s English KENT C page says the Kent C “is available with 2 or 3 doors”, and the Europe brochure speaks of “models with 2 or 3 doors”. The Kent XL is different: its sheet gives one double-leaf electric inward-opening door at the front and three double-leaf electric side-sliding doors behind it, which Otokar’s KENT XL page calls outward-opening.

Annex 3 of UN Regulation No 107 sets minimum service-door counts by class and passenger number: paragraph 7.6.1.1 requires, for Classes I and A, one service door at 9 to 45 passengers, two at 46 to 70, three at 71 to 100 and four above 100; paragraph 7.6.1.2 requires one service door in each rigid section of an articulated vehicle and two in the front section of a Class I vehicle; paragraph 7.6.1.6 counts a double service door as two doors. No Otokar document opened states which class, if any, the Kent is built to, so which of these rows applies cannot be settled from outside.

Engines

The newer Kent LF sheet, KS70TP-26, gives a Cummins Intercooler turbo diesel of 6.7 litres, six cylinders in line, 220 kW at 2,100 rpm and 1,182 Nm between 1,150 and 1,400 rpm, declared to Euro 6. The earlier sheet, KS70TM-20, adds an optional second engine step of 204 kW at 2,100 rpm with 1,082 Nm at 1,400 rpm that the newer sheet does not list. Otokar names no engine type number on either sheet, so “Cummins” is the whole of what the maker prints for this engine. The Europe brochure states the diesel is compatible with HVO and XTL synthetic fuels, the maker’s own claim.

The Turkish range brochure gives the Kent CNG a Cummins gas engine of 235 kW and 1,357 Nm, and the Europe brochure also gives 235 kW; Otokar’s English KENT C CNG page instead gives 221 kW. The Europe brochure gives the hybrid variant the diesel’s 220 kW. The hydrogen fuel-cell bus runs a 410 kW traction motor behind a roof-mounted fuel cell; Otokar’s hydrogen page describes the fuel cell as “positioned on top of vehicle”.

The battery-electric e-Kent’s 2026 sheet gives a Voith electric motor at a maximum 410 kW and 3,100 Nm. Otokar’s own e-KENT C page instead gives a maximum power of 250 kW for the shorter e-KENT C, and the articulated e-KENT ARTICULATED page gives 410 kW and 3,100 Nm, matching the e-Kent sheet.

The 21-metre Kent XL and the 18.75-metre Kent LF Körüklü share a larger diesel: the Kent XL sheet, KS90TA-21, gives a DAF Turbo Intercooler diesel of 10.8 litres, six cylinders, 270 kW at 1,600 rpm and 1,900 Nm between 900 and 1,125 rpm, declared Euro 6 OBD-D; the Körüklü sheet, KS82TD-20, gives the same engine as 10,837 cc, six cylinders, 270 kW (367 hp) at 1,600 rpm and 1,900 Nm between 900 and 1,125 rpm, and states no emission class. Otokar Europe’s KENT C 21 model page names the model’s engine in full — “DAF MX 11 Intercooler turbo diesel 270 kW (370CV) / 1600 rpm” — for a bus of 21,000 x 2,540 x 3,245 mm and up to 220 passengers. For the Kent XL, the KS90TA-21 sheet gives the same width, height, power and rpm with a length of 20,995 mm, and Otokar’s Turkish range brochure gives the same 220 passengers. No Otokar document opened pairs the DAF MX 11 with a 12-metre Kent. Power figures for the articulated diesel vary across Otokar’s own documents and are recorded rather than resolved: 264.8 kW at 2,200 rpm for the 18-metre version and 270 kW at 1,600 rpm for the 18.75-metre version in the 2024 Turkish range brochure; 270 kW (367 hp) at 1,600 rpm on KS82TD-20; 270 kW (370 hp) at 1,600 rpm in the Europe brochure; 271 kW (370 CV) at 1,700 rpm on Otokar Europe’s KENT C 18 page; and 271 kW (369 hp) on Otokar’s own English KENT C ARTICULATED page.

Transmission

The newer Kent LF sheet gives an automatic gearbox, six forward and one reverse, with retarder function among the standard equipment; Otokar names no transmission maker. The earlier KS70TM-20 sheet gives a four-speed automatic as standard with a six-speed optional, and names no retarder. The Kent XL sheet gives an automatic six-speed gearbox with an Intarder integrated in it. The Kent LF Körüklü sheet gives an automatic gearbox, six forward and one reverse, with retarder function, the same wording as the newer Kent LF sheet. On the e-Kent, the sheet lists regeneration as the auxiliary brake rather than a stepped gearbox. No Otokar document opened names a transmission maker for any variant.

Axles, suspension and brakes

The newer Kent LF sheet gives a front axle that is independent and rated 8 tonnes, a rigid rear axle rated 11.5 tonnes, and 275/70 R22.5 tyres; maximum speed on level asphalt is given as 80 km/h. The earlier KS70TM-20 sheet instead gives a front axle of 6.5 tonnes and states its top speed as limited to 80 km/h, a difference in wording the newer sheet does not repeat.

The e-Kent sheet gives a front axle rated 8,000 kg on a ZF IFS RL 82EC unit and a rear axle rated 11,500 kg on a ZF AV 133/80 unit, a ZF differential at a ratio of 7.36, Continental HA5 275/70 tyres, 22 per cent gradeability and a wall-to-wall turning radius of 10.8 m.

The newer Kent LF sheet gives full dry-air, dual-circuit service brakes with ABS/ASR/ESP/ESC and disc brakes front and rear, with a dry spring-type parking brake acting on the rear wheels; its suspension is two air bellows, two hydraulic dampers and one level sensor at the front and four air bellows, four hydraulic dampers and two level sensors at the rear, with an anti-roll bar. The e-Kent sheet gives the same service-brake and parking-brake types, with EBS added to the electronic package (full-air, dual-circuit, EBS/ABS/ASR/ESP/ESC, disc front and rear; dry spring-type parking brake on the rear wheels), and the same air-bellows-and-hydraulic-damper suspension with level sensors and an anti-roll bar.

The Kent XL sheet rates its four axles individually: 7.5 tonnes (independent, front), 10 tonnes (rigid), 11.5 tonnes (portal) and 6 tonnes (independent). This fourth axle is the one Otokar’s English KENT XL page says steers, crediting it with “a low turning radius” and high manoeuvrability along the vehicle’s BRT route. The Kent LF Körüklü sheet rates its three axles at 6.5 tonnes (independent), 10 tonnes (rigid) and 12.5 tonnes (portal), on the same 275/70 R22.5 tyres as the Kent LF.

No Otokar document opened prints a wheel-formula notation such as 4x2 or 6x2 for any Kent variant, so the axle configurations recorded for this family describe axle count only.

On auxiliary or endurance braking, Otokar’s own documents give a different answer for each variant: the Kent XL sheet names an Intarder integrated in the gearbox, the newer Kent LF and the Kent LF Körüklü sheets an automatic gearbox with retarder function, the e-Kent sheet regeneration, and the earlier KS70TM-20 sheet no retarder at all.

Dimensions and weights

The newer Kent LF sheet gives a length of 12,000 mm, a width of 2,550 mm and a height of 3,165 mm with air conditioning, an interior aisle height of 2,358 mm, a front track of 2,158 mm and a rear track of 1,911 mm. The earlier KS70TM-20 sheet gives a width of 2,540 mm, a height of 3,145 mm, an interior aisle height of 2,438 mm, a front track of 2,166 mm and a rear track of 1,874 mm for what is printed as the same model.

For the passenger capacity of a 12-metre Kent, Otokar’s own documents give three answers: 26 + 76 on both Turkish data sheets, the earlier one labelling them seated and standing; a maximum of 102 in the Turkish range brochure and up to 102 in the headline of Otokar’s own English KENT C page, both of which cover the 10.8-metre and 12-metre lengths together; up to 108 in the European brochure and a maximum capacity of 108 on Otokar Europe’s KENT C 12 page. The English KENT C page gives two figures, 102 in its headline strip and 101 in its Performance text. None of it is reconciled here, only recorded with the document it came from.

The e-Kent sheet, for a bus 12,130 mm long, 2,550 mm wide and 3,220 mm tall on a 5,900 mm wheelbase (front overhang 2,700 mm, rear overhang 3,530 mm — a sum that is our arithmetic, not Otokar’s, matching the published length), gives an interior aisle height of 2,358 mm and a maximum laden weight (“azami yüklü ağırlık”) of 18,000 kg, with seating for 27 + 36 on the Option-1 battery and an alternative layout of 27 + 32 + 1 wheelchair space. The 2024 Turkish range brochure, in an e-Kent entry covering the 10.8 m and 12 m lengths together, gives a maximum of 74 passengers with the footnote “Azami Yüklü Ağırlık 18.000 Kg’da” (at a maximum laden weight of 18,000 kg); Otokar Europe’s e-KENT C 12 page instead gives a capacity of up to 122.

The Kent XL sheet gives a length of 20,995 mm, a width of 2,540 mm and a height of 3,245 mm, on three wheelbases of 5,900, 7,385 and 1,600 mm with a front overhang of 2,700 mm and a rear overhang of 3,410 mm (the five figures sum to the published length, again our arithmetic). Its maximum laden weight is 34,000 kg, against its four axle ratings summing to 35 tonnes — also our arithmetic, not Otokar’s. Seating is given as 38 seated + 182 standing + 1 driver, with an alternative layout of 38 + 161 + 1 wheelchair + 1 pram + 1 driver; Otokar Europe’s KENT C 21 page gives a maximum capacity of 220.

The Kent LF Körüklü sheet gives a length of 18,750 mm, a width of 2,540 mm and a height of 3,215 mm, with seating of 36 seated + 119 standing and an alternative layout of 36 + 111 + 1 wheelchair + 1 pram. Otokar’s Turkish range brochure gives the articulated bus a maximum of 155 passengers across its 18 m and 18.75 m lengths together; Otokar’s English KENT C ARTICULATED page instead gives up to 164 for the same two lengths, and the European brochure gives up to 152 for the 18,000 mm KENT C 18. A further weight figure appears only in the 2024 Turkish range brochure’s footnote: a maximum laden weight of 28,000 kg for the articulated e-Kent.

Annex I point 1.1 of Council Directive 96/53/EC sets maximum length at 13.50 m for a bus with two axles, 15.00 m for a bus with more than two and 18.75 m for an articulated bus. Under Article 4(1)(b), Member States “shall not authorise the normal circulation within their territories” of vehicles for national passenger transport that are not in conformity with point 1.1, among others. Article 4(4) qualifies this: Member States “may allow” vehicles carrying out certain national transport operations that do not significantly affect international competition to circulate with dimensions deviating from point 1.1, and Article 4(5) lets them “allow” vehicles incorporating new technologies or new concepts to carry out certain local transport operations for a trial period. The 18,750 mm Kent LF Körüklü sits exactly on the articulated-bus figure. The 20,995 mm Kent XL cannot be measured against either row from what Otokar publishes: Article 1(3) puts articulated buses with more than one articulated section outside the Directive altogether, Article 2 defines an articulated bus as one having two rigid sections and a single articulated section, and no Otokar document opened says how many articulations the Kent XL has.

Tanks, or battery and charging

The newer Kent LF sheet gives a fuel tank of 280 litres and an AdBlue tank of 31 litres; the earlier KS70TM-20 sheet gives a 300-litre fuel tank. What the AdBlue reagent does is in SCR and AdBlue. The Kent XL sheet gives a 380-litre fuel tank and a 45-litre AdBlue tank; the Kent LF Körüklü sheet gives two 195-litre fuel tanks and a 50-litre AdBlue tank. The Turkish range brochure gives the 12-metre Kent CNG a gas tank of 1,596.5 litres and the articulated Kent CNG Körüklü one of 1,803.5 litres.

The e-Kent’s 2026 sheet gives LFP battery packs of 497 kWh (Option-1) or 331 kWh (Option-2), CCS2 DC charging in under 2.5 hours on the 497 kWh Option-1 pack, with no time published for Option-2. The 2024 Turkish range brochure, in an e-Kent entry covering the 10.8 m and 12 m lengths together, instead gives Li-ion packs of 300 kWh or 450 kWh, a recuperation rate of 25 per cent and charging at 150 kW in under 2.5 hours on the 300 kWh pack and under 3.5 hours on the 450 kWh pack. Otokar’s own e-KENT C page gives a different chemistry again — Li-ion NMC in 210 kWh, 280 kWh or 350 kWh packs, built from four modules of seven batteries totalling 300 kWh, a maximum power of 250 kW, a published range of 300 km and a full charge in 4 hours. Otokar Europe’s e-KENT C 12 page gives a “450 kW” battery, and its brochure prints “Up to 450 kW (battery capacity)” — kilowatts where, since the brochure calls it a capacity, we read kilowatt-hours as meant; the same brochure prints “Up to 600 kW (battery capacity)” for the articulated e-KENT C 18, whose English model page instead gives Li-ion NMC packs of 350, 490 or 560 kWh with the 410 kW, 3,100 Nm motor.

The hydrogen bus carries a battery of up to 140 kWh behind its roof-mounted fuel cell, in a Type-IV carbon-reinforced hydrogen store of approximately 1,600 litres and 38 kg, which Otokar’s hydrogen page says fills in under 10 minutes to the SAE J2600 quality standard. Otokar’s hydrogen page gives a range of 500 km, “over 500 km” in its text; the European brochure instead gives the same bus “a zero emission battery range of up to 400 km”. The hydrogen bus is also set out in hydrogen fuel-cell buses and coaches.

Safety and driver-assistance systems

The 2026 data sheets list driver-assistance systems by name and supplier: MOIS, BSIS and ISA, all supplied by Knorr, plus DDAW, ESS, alcohol-interlock preparation, reversing information and tyre-pressure monitoring. No regulation is named beside any of them, so no compliance claim is made here; the timetables that bind are in mandatory driver assistance systems.

No Otokar document opened states the vehicle’s class under UN Regulation No 107 or declares compliance with UN Regulation No 66. Paragraph 1.1 of UN Regulation No 66 applies it to “single-deck rigid or articulated vehicles belonging to categories M2 or M3, Classes II or III or class B having more than 16 passengers”, and paragraph 1.2 lets it apply “at the request of the manufacturer” to any other M2 or M3 vehicle. With no class stated, whether either route reaches the Kent cannot be settled from outside. What the classes decide is in bus classes, and what UN Regulation No 66 requires in UN R66.

Equipment and options

The newer Kent LF sheet lists two 24 V, 225 Ah batteries and two 24 V, 120 A alternators among the electrical equipment, and a long standard-equipment list beside them: digitally controlled air conditioning; a kneeling body-lowering and -raising system alongside ELC electronically controlled suspension; an air-suspended driver’s seat with armrest, heating, cooling and a presence sensor, plastic passenger seats with fabric-covered seat and backrest; a stop-request bell; digital destination displays at the front, side and rear; bi-halogen headlights with an automatic headlight system and rear fog lights; USB charging at the driver’s position and three passenger points; a reversing camera with a 7-inch monitor plus separate interior- and exterior-recording cameras and two 19-inch LCD monitors; continuous LED ceiling lighting in two stages, controlled front and rear, with an anti-pinch mechanism against passengers being caught in the doors; engine-bay fire detection and extinguishing, a 6 kg fire extinguisher and a first-aid kit; cybersecurity, an automatic chassis-lubrication system and remote door control; and stainless grab rails. The sheet lists auxiliary heating, heated-roof air conditioning, a front anti-roll bar, a mirror camera, a parking sensor and a radio as options.

The e-Kent sheet gives the same ABS/ASR/ESP/EBS, kneeling, ELC-suspension, driver’s-seat, destination-display, remote-door-control and engine-bay fire-detection items as standard, adds a 20 kW electric heater and regeneration controllable from the pedal or a hand control, and lists FKT Kiel Ideo and Sege-brand fabric passenger seats, a driver’s refrigerator, a pantograph charging connector, an electric ramp and a tachograph among its own standard and optional items.

The accessibility hardware Otokar publishes across the family — wheelchair layouts as alternative seating rows, kneeling, manual and electric ramps, Braille stop buttons — belongs with bus accessibility. What UN Regulation No 107 asks of service doors, cited above under Cab and body, is set out further in bus doors and emergency exits.

Source notes

The figures above are the 12 m diesel, Kent LF on Otokar’s Turkish sheets; Otokar Europe’s KENT C 12 page gives the same dimensions and engine. Otokar uses the same name for lengths from 10.8 to 21 m and for five propulsions. The battery-electric e-Kent is 12,130 mm long and 3,220 mm tall on a 5,900 mm wheelbase, with a maximum laden weight of 18,000 kg on its sheet, a Voith motor of 410 kW and 3,100 Nm, LFP packs of 497 kWh or 331 kWh, CCS2 DC charging in under 2.5 hours on the 497 kWh Option-1 pack with no time published for Option-2, a 22 per cent gradeability and a wall-to-wall turning radius of 10.8 m. The articulated Kent LF Körüklü is 18,750 mm on three axles rated 6.5, 10 and 12.5 tonnes, with a DAF engine of 10,837 cc at 270 kW and 1,900 Nm and four double-leaf inward doors. The 21 m Kent XL, which Otokar’s range brochure says is produced for the metrobüs line, has a maximum laden weight of 34,000 kg on its sheet, its axles rated individually at 7.5, 10, 11.5 and 6 tonnes, with three wheelbases of 5,900, 7,385 and 1,600 mm, one inward-opening front door and three side-sliding doors the KENT XL page calls outward-opening, and an Intarder in the gearbox. Its sheet, KS90TA-21, gives a DAF diesel of 10.8 litres and six cylinders at 270 kW and 1,900 Nm. Otokar Europe’s KENT C 21 page, for a 21 m bus at the same power, names its engine as a DAF MX 11, the only Kent diesel Otokar names in full on any document opened. No Otokar document opened pairs either engine with a 12 m Kent, which is why neither is a second entry in the engine block above. The Turkish range brochure gives the Kent CNG a Cummins gas engine of 235 kW and 1,357 Nm; the Europe brochure adds a hybrid at 220 kW and a hydrogen fuel-cell bus 3,390 mm tall. Otokar’s second engine step for the 12 m diesel, 204 kW with 1,082 Nm, appears as an option on the earlier KS70TM-20 sheet and not on the newer KS70TP-26, which also gives a front axle of 8 rather than 6.5 tonnes and a width of 2,550 rather than 2,540 mm. The only maximum laden weights on the Otokar data sheets opened are the e-Kent’s 18,000 kg and the Kent XL’s 34,000 kg; the 2024 range brochure adds a third in a footnote, 28,000 kg for the articulated e-Kent. Passenger capacity differs between Otokar documents for most variants, and the differences are recorded rather than resolved. Otokar prints no wheel formula, no UN Regulation No 107 class and no UN Regulation No 66 declaration on any document opened.