Public transport company Norgesbuss in Oslo, Norway, has ordered 17 electric buses from Volvo Buses. By that, Oslo is the fourth Norwegian city to order fully electric buses from Volvo, after Trondheim, Drammen and Lillehammer.

The buses, which will run in traffic in the area of Romerike just north of Oslo, are being sold as a complete turnkey solution with Volvo providing all maintenance for the vehicles as well as their batteries, at a fixed monthly cost.

The buses will start to operate in the summer of 2019. The first vehicles will be delivered during the first quarter of 2019 in order to be prepared for ITxPT (Information Technology for Public Transport), which is the new standard for IT systems for onboard equipment on the buses and back office systems.

“We are very pleased that Norgesbuss has chosen Volvo as a partner in this exciting project”, says Svenn-Åge Lökken, sales manager, Volvo Buses Norway.
“We have gained considerable expertise in electromobility that we bring into the cooperation with Norgesbuss and we expect good synergies between the projects already started in Trondheim, Drammen and Lillehammer.”

“Norgesbuss are prepared for the green shift within public transport and we are happy to take part in the development towards zero emissons when it comes to buses. Volvo has a well-proven electromobility technologoy and at the same time they are also motivated for further development and innovation around solutions which will make the buses even more environmentally-friendly. We are looking forward to this delivery which will be positive for the drivers and passengers as well as bring a reduction of local emissions,” says Henning Berthelsen, technical director, Norgesbuss AS.

The buses have a battery capacity of 200 kWh. They will be charged via CCS cable in the depot.

Energy consumption for Volvo’s electric buses is about 80 per cent lower than for corresponding diesel models.

Volvo’s electric buses have also been sold to cities in countries such as Sweden, Britain, Luxemburg and Poland. In addition to the all-electric Volvo 7900 Electric, the Volvo Buses range of electrified vehicles includes hybrid buses and electric hybrid (plug-in hybrid) models. All told the company has sold more than 4000 electrified Volvo buses the world over.