Urban Transport

Silent and clean, Volvo’s electric bus rides into Gothenburg

Volvo's electric bus will be on the roads of Gothenburg in 2015
Volvo's electric bus will be on the roads of Gothenburg in 2015

The city of Gothenburg in Sweden is getting ready to ride into the future with a cutting-edge bus service system whose proponents hope will blaze a new trail in urban mobility. Part of a project called ElectricCity, which is slated for a 2015 launch, the electric bus will be fueled by electricity generated from renewable sources. The buses themselves will be energy-efficient, near silent and will not emit any greenhouse gases. Plans for the system also include an indoor bus stop.

“This represents an entirely new mode of travel and will allow for the public-transport system to contribute to a more pleasant urban environment. A silent and emissions-free public-transport system will enable the inclusion of locations in the city that are currently off limits,” says Olof Persson, Volvo’s president and CEO.

The project is a partnership between several entities, including the Swedish Energy Agency, the City of Gothenburg, Västtrafik, Lindholmen Science Park and Johanneberg Science Park. Besides the electric buses, the cooperation will look into various aspects of urban mobility, including safety, energy and routing, to name but a few. From 2015, the buses will run between Johanneberg Science Park and Lindholmen Science Park in Hisingen.

This is not the first time Volvo tries out a clean fuel bus in Gothenburg. In 2009 the company field tested its 7700 model in a collaboration with the the Göteborgs Spårvägar transit company.

Source: Volvo

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4 comments
Timo Tiilikainen
i live in Salzburg and here the public transport has electric trolley buses and they are not giving up on them, but of course the buses get there power from over head cable so it is not so sexy.
Artem Down
This article is the reason why I still believe we won't kill ourselves:)
Slowburn
re; Timo Tiilikainen
Less sexy but significantly more practical.
Pikeman
The problem is that batteries are expensive, heavy, have a short service life, and grant only slightly more flexibility in routing than overhead power.
If you were to build a semi-closed loop ICE only remove water and C02 and adding oxygen and fuel (Air Independent propulsion) with a 50 horse power ICE (preferably diesel) running at constant power and using Stirling Cycle engines as the heat exchangers powering a flywheel drive/energy recovery system will provide just as efficient propulsion.
Noise control can be achieved by using active noise suppression inside a sound dampening box.
Also heating the bus in cold weather requires no additional energy.