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MOTORINDIA
l March 2012
39
Delivering up to 37 per cent
lower fuel consumption and with a
much lower environmental impact
than conventional diesels, Volvo
hybrid buses have achieved sig-
nificant market success around the
world. Now, the company’s home
town of Gothenburg has ordered
25 hybrid buses which are sched-
uled to enter service later this year.
“The hybrid buses are an impor-
tant element of our programme of
converting to fossil-free bus traffic
while reducing fuel consumption.
Their combination of low emis-
sions, lower noise level, high ca-
pacity and low energy utilisation
is very attractive,” comments Leif
Blomqvist, Chairman of the Board
of Västtrafik, the agency responsi-
ble for public transport services in
Gothenburg.
More and more transport au-
thorities and operators are now
discovering the benefits of hybrid
technology, with Nobina, Nettbuss
and, most recently, Göteborgs
Spårvägar as the biggest custom-
ers in the Nordic countries.
“We wanted environmentally fa-
vourable buses for a new applica-
tion, and we finally opted for Vol-
vo hybrid buses whose low fuel
consumption makes a big differ-
ence to the quantity of emissions
that they release,” says Director of
Operations Bernt-Erik Johansson
of Göteborgs Spårvägar.
Electricity and biodiesel
The 25 Volvo 7700 hybrid buses
are powered by a small diesel en-
gine and an electric motor. Fuel
consumption is radically reduced
by the use of regenerative braking
to recover the energy generated
when the vehicle’s brakes are ap-
plied.
The diesel engine is shut off at
bus stops, enabling the bus to op-
erate silently and emission-free on
electricity. However, emissions
from diesel operation are also low
since the bus is fuelled by biodie-
sel.
According to Volvo, hybrid
buses running on biodiesel have
a distinctly lower environmental
impact than other, comparable al-
ternatives.
“It’s very satisfying that Gothen-
burg is committing to vehicles
designed for environmentally ef-
ficient public transport. This order
brings our total sales of hybrid
buses in the Nordic countries to
100, and interest on the part of
operators and traffic authorities
continues to grow rapidly,” says
Uri Peleg, Area Director North at
Volvo Buses.
w
vehicle zone [international]
V
olvo has so far sold a total of 100 buses
powered by hybrid technology in the Nordic
countries. The latest order to be received by
Volvo Buses is for 25 hybrid buses for Göteborgs
Spårvägar (Gothenburg Tramways), which operates
public transport services on behalf of Västtrafik.