Volvo electric bus launched in the UK

Last week at Donington Park in Derbyshire, the right hand drive Volvo electric bus (7900e) was launched and Jade Smith was there to see the vehicle in action, along with others from the Electromobility range

Volvo Bus marked the arrival of its first right hand drive, full 7900e electric bus in the UK which is the latest addition to the Volvo Bus Electromobility range, at a special ride and drive event last week at Donington Park in Derbyshire. Those attending were able to see and ride on a selection of Volvo buses and coaches, and also had the opportunity to test drive the vehicles.

After a brief welcome speech, the event kicked off with the revealing of the Volvo electric bus (7900e) featuring musicians on electric violins playing Eddy Grant’s ‘Electric Avenue’. It set the theme for the day: Volvo’s offering of an electrified future to improve cities.

Following the event, the Volvo 7900e will be embarking on a UK demonstration programme during the remainder of 2017 and into 2018. The Volvo 7900e will be making its operational debut during 2018 with Transdev Blazefield, when eight vehicles will be entering service in Harrogate.

Speaking at the event, Nick Page, Managing Director of Volvo Bus, said: “We are naturally very excited to have the first right hand drive 7900e arrive in the UK and it has been great to have the opportunity to showcase this latest addition to our Electromobility range here today to our guests.

“The Electric Avenue event was conceived to highlight and discuss with customers and stakeholders, some of the challenges that our society is facing in relation to public transport. These include factors such as our current approach to urban planning, the environment and noise pollution, and how the Volvo Electromobility range can play a key role in meeting these challenges.

“At the event we have focused on five key messages which centre around the delivery of emission-free environments, that are quiet and provide world class safe transport for the people who live and work in urban areas. We have also looked at the new urban planning possibilities that electrified vehicles can create, while showcasing the proven technology that Electromobility can and will deliver now and in the future.”

The five key questions Volvo posed at the event were:

•  Do you want an emission-free city?
•  Are you dreaming of a quiet life?
•  Do you demand world-class safety?
•  What can your city be?
•  Do you need proven technology?

Delegates were driven around the Electric Avenue on the Donington Park test track on-board the Volvo electric bus (7900e), calling at five ‘stations’ where short presentations were made on each element. [wlm_nonmember][…]

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Completing the Electromobility range together with the Volvo electric bus (7900e) at the event was the Volvo B5LH double-deck hybrid, originally introduced in London in 2009, and the Volvo B5LHC double-deck electric hybrid, which was launched at the Euro Bus Expo in November 2016.

Also available on the day was a Volvo B8RLE with MMC body and two coaches with identical B11R chassis, the body on one being a Jonckheere and the other a Sunsundegui.

Volvo Electric Bus (7900e)

Volvo said the Volvo 7900 Electric means peace of mind. In order to maintain uptime and minimise operational and financial risk it is offered as a turn-key solution.

Many cities apply restrictions on city-centre traffic. Zones that impose limits on emissions, noise and speed are becoming more and more common. The Volvo 7900 Electric can meet such emission and noise limits by itself, and with the help of Volvo Bus zone management it can also handle speed limits.

Operating the Volvo 7900 Electric offers a whole new set of possibilities to make public transport attractive. New routes, silent traffic in sensitive areas and bus stops where people want them.

Rapid and fully automatic charging at end stations keeps productivity up and helps operators keep to schedule. Opportunity charging is more cost-efficient than overnight charging in the depot.

Volvo said that driving a Volvo 7900 Electric is smooth and straight-forward, with one of the best driver environments available.

The Volvo 7900 Electric offers a silent and comfortable experience – for passengers on-board, those waiting at the bus stop and residents along the route. It shares technology with Volvo hybrids and electric hybrids proven in operation by thousands of buses.

Emission-free

The first stop on the day was a picnic site to illustrate the possibility of an emission-free city. Volvo said its Electromobility strategy provides a range of products that help drive towards emission-free cities.

It was stated that air pollution is the world’s biggest environmental health risk, causing an estimated 3.5m deaths every year across the globe. The climate change issues driven by CO2 emissions are well-known,

But additionally NO and NO2 emissions in cities is a huge challenge. Electric buses help solve both of these problems by eliminating CO2 emissions whilst improving local air quality with zero tailpipe emissions.

Volvo explained what cities around the world are doing to tackle these issues. From 2020 Hamburg will only buy emission-free buses, Oslo plans to power all public transport with renewable energy, while Mexico City, Paris and Madrid will ban diesel vehicles from 2025. The London Ultra Low Emission zone will be introduced a year ahead of schedule in two years.

Environmental concern has been at the heart of Volvo’s thinking for a long time. The company’s Electromobility range of hybrid and electric solutions are running today. Electric bus systems help improve air quality, save the environment and ultimately save lives.

Future cities

The second tent was dressed up to resemble a museum, looking at re-thinking what cities can be in the future. Volvo said that in order to understand what we can do in the cities of the future, we first have to understand some of the challenges of today.

By 2060, two thirds of the global population will live in cities, creating a number of challenges: climate change, air quality, noise, congestion and road safety. In the UK the Government released its latest air quality plans, targeting specific cities where NO2 needs to be reduced. By 2020 there will be 37 cities that will need to take some kind of action.

Volvo thinks that Electromobility and connectivity combined can create new ways to develop cities, helping increase quality of life. It believes in innovative relationships with lots of different stakeholders to improve air quality, comfort of life and to increase ridership.

The Volvo Electromobility range can open up new possibilities such as a bus that collects passengers from an office block, apartment block or an indoor interchange at a Park & Ride site. The vehicle can not only drop passengers outside a coffee shop, but inside the shopping centre they want to be in. Airport terminals, hospital waiting rooms – it has huge potential. Take the bus to the people; don’t bring the people to the bus.

The same vehicle can drive through residential areas in the evenings. Silent operation can enable towns and cities to be linked 24/7. Urban distribution vehicles and refuge vehicles can autonomously operate overnight, allowing for improved road space during the day.

All of the Volvo Electromobility range comes complete with zone management which allows for complete control of the characteristics of the vehicle. It gives local authorities and operators further possibilities to improve the environment around them, ensuring that demands and operational requirements are met. It also helps drivers by notifying them of their entrance into specific zones, enabling them to adjust their driving behaviour accordingly.

There can be true zero emissions zones. It’s not just about tailpipe: Volvo’s fully electric bus has the ability to be truly zero-emission as the company is connected with green energy suppliers for 100% carbon-neutral electricity.

Zone management

Zone management means that vehicles can comply with restrictions and specific requirements depending on geographical position. The driver is updated when they are in zero-emission or low-speed zones, and can adjust the driving mode and take action accordingly.

By setting map boundaries and downloading them to the vehicle’s fleet management software it is possible to create zones in order to apply recommendations, rules and restrictions to vehicles entering a zone. Using real-time GPS tracking of the vehicle’s position, the system alerts the driver when approaching such a zone.

Each zone is given attributes. These may be a speed limit, a time frame or a calendar controlling other parameters. A zone can be valid for all or some of the vehicles in the fleet. The zones may also overlap.

In a silent zone the noise level is restricted for the benefit of the citizens. Cities have different reasons for creating silent zones, for example passing through residential areas, recreation areas or hospitals. Zone management switches to silent drive prior to entering the silent zone, and the electric hybrid goes back to standard operation after exiting the zone.

An increasing number of cities restrict traffic with combustion engines in sensitive areas. Geofencing is then used to prevent vehicles from entering the zone unless they are able to run in electric mode, without a combustion engine running.

For electric hybrids, traffic data is used to calculate and predict energy consumption, thus enabling electric drive throughout the zero-emission zones.

Every city street and every road has a speed limit. By particularly defining the low-speed zones it is possible to ensure the driver is always aware of the current limit. The system warns and reports if the vehicle speed exceeds the limit. It is also possible to actively control the speed of the vehicle.

Noise

The third stop was a café designed to show how electric vehicles can reduce noise in cities.

Volvo said that noise is another global health problem, with huge costs to society. In England the estimated annual cost of urban road noise is £7-10bn, close to that of road accidents and more than climate change.

Aside from the conscious displeasure of noise pollution, it can have an impact on the natural environment by disturbing wildlife. Silent vehicles can therefore have a huge impact on cities – silence truly is golden.

The electric vehicle provides a silent experience, not just for the passengers, but for the pedestrians. Silent operation means electric buses can go to more places such as shopping centres, hospitals and universities. Public transport actually becomes more public.

Infrastructure

Tent number four explained that there are a number of factors an operator needs to consider when choosing which charging method they want to go for. It depends on the routes, the available space at the depot and how visual the operator wishes it to be.

Depot charging is hidden away from the general public, whereas on-route infrastructure gives a clear message that the investment is being made into cleaning the air and utilising future technologies. Some operators and cities want their pantographs to stand out. These can be designed in multiple ways so it can make a statement or blend in as part of the bus stop.

The opportunity charging system provides automatic charging of batteries in electric hybrids and full-electric buses. The system is designed to be part of ordinary bus stops and it constitutes the complete interface between the energy grid and the vehicle.

Most buses have a couple of minutes rest at the end stations of their routes. Volvo makes use of this time and charges the battery of the electric or electric hybrid driveline. Due to an advanced control system this charging takes only up to six minutes to complete.

Charging starts automatically after the bus has stopped in the right position at the charging station, and after the driver has applied the handbrake. The charging interface reaches the bus from above, which is optimal in terms of safety. All moving parts are integrated in the pylon, while the contacts on the bus are fixed mounted. This minimises the need for additional maintenance on the vehicle.

The charging station has minimal impact on the bus stop. All control devices and electronics are gathered in a heavy-duty cabinet, placed in a suitable housing. Underground cabling connects it to the pylon where the charging contact device, the pantograph, is mounted. There are a number of processes that have to occur before the vehicle can start charging and it is completely safe to enter, leave and stay on the vehicle while it is charging.

When the infrastructure is not in use, there is no electricity flowing into it. The charger supplies electricity to the pantograph, which can be up to 200m away. The charging infrastructure could be located in a Park & Ride, for example, for use with car charging points as well as the bus pantograph. It’s about understanding what cities would want in the future, not for just now.

Volvo’s technology moving forward would be full electric and electric hybrid which share common interface. The company’s pantograph can charge both full electric and electric hybrid vehicles and it will also be a common interface to vehicles from other manufacturers. It offers choice and stimulates healthy competition so operators are not restricted to one manufacturer or supplier.

Safety

It was explained that safety has been a Volvo Group core value for the past 90 years. No transport solution can be successful unless it is safe. Volvo has a vision of zero accidents with its products by 2020 – the only way to achieve this is through pioneering work and innovation.

Safety solutions must not only encompass drivers and passengers, but pedestrians and other road users. The design of the driver’s environment and interaction with the vehicle, such as its handling characteristics, are key to keeping the driver in full control. Volvo has put huge effort into designing systems that reduce distraction and pre-warn the driver of a potential accident. There are also a range of systems that can step in to prevent an accident from occurring, if the driver does not respond to warnings.

New technologies present new challenges. Volvo Bus is pioneering Electromobility and said its electric systems are as safe as any of its others.

For more information on the Volvo electric bus range visit: volvobuses.com/en-en/our-offering/electromobility

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