Volvo buses has added to their range of electric buses with the announcement of their Volvo 7900 Electric Articulated. Simply put, this new electric vehicle is just an articulated version of the Volvo 7900 electric bus. Articulated buses are those with two sections as seen in the press image above. Articulated buses allow for a much larger occupancy, this one going up to 150 passengers.
Volvo Group as a whole might mostly be known for cars but they also have a range of electrified commercial transportation from hybrids to fully electric vehicles. The company has even teased a full self-driving semi truck in the past. Volvo Group also happens to own Polestar, the new all-electric auto manufacturer aiming to defeat Tesla.
This electric bus is not yet unveiled. We will have to wait until October at the Busworld exhibition in Brussel to learn more. For now, all we know for sure is that the bus will be introduced in two versions: 18 and 18.7 meters long and that the maximum passenger capacity is 150.
“The Volvo 7900 Electric Articulated in commercial configuration will be available in a choice of two lengths – 18 and 18.7 metres – and it is designed to meet high demands on capacity, comfort and traffic information, while at the same time offering efficient passenger flow. The batteries will be charged both via fast-charge stations at either end of the route, and via overnight charging at the depot using CCS. The Volvo 7900 Electric Articulated will be unveiled to the public at the Busworld exhibition in Brussels in October.”
It’s sister bus, the Volvo 7900 (non-articulated) has a small battery pack of only 76kWh. These buses were designed for inner-city travel rather than long distance. We will have to just wait and see if the Volvo 7900 Articulated will follow a similar route or go with a massive battery pack such as the ones BYD and Proterra have for their electric buses.
As are most, this electric vehicle will be fast-charge capable. Most likely through the same company currently handling charging for their other electric buses, OppCharge. This is a dedicated charging network solely used for electric buses.
Volvo has been developing this massive electric bus for a while now. It’s prototypes were first spotted last year in Gothenburg, Sweden, under the creative name ElectriCity.
“The new articulated bus is based on the prototypes that since June 2018 have been running in test operations on the high-frequency route 16 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The two concept buses have thus far run for 4,500 hours and covered more than 62,000 kilometres, with excellent uptime.”
