[SunnyBoi]

Just saw a completely camouflaged Volvo City Bus on a trailer between Hubli - Dharwad bypass. I could see the writing E-Hybrid written on the side between the front wheel and the main door.

My guess is it's going to Navi Mumbai since there was a NMMT sticker on the rear glass.

This was the best pic I could click while overtaking the trailer (it goes without saying, but I wasn't driving).

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Commercial Vehicles Section. Thanks for sharing!

[V.Narayan]

Thank you for your eagle eye and for sharing this. It is a big step in the right direction given the amount of time within city limits a bus spends at slow crawl speeds or idling at traffic signals. Look forward to more updates. All intra-city buses could be hybrid without any loss of pulling power.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Just saw a completely camouflaged Volvo City Bus on a trailer between Hubli - Dharwad bypass. I could see the writing E-Hybrid written on the side between the front wheel and the main door.

My guess is it's going to Navi Mumbai since there was a NMMT sticker on the rear glass.

This was the best pic I could click while overtaking the trailer (it goes without saying, but I wasn't driving).

Attachment 1467010

Last week, I had seen the same bus on road and not on a truck trying hard to figure out ways to exit Bangalore or whatever as he was stuck at the Signal at Cafe Coffee Day Square and trying to think in the middle of the road whether he needs to enter Vittal Mallya Road or elsewhere. This was around 0645am.

Of course, we saw NMMT sticker and another sticker (forgotten whether it said e-bus or eco-bus), which hinted that it was a Hybrid Bus.

[Ashley2]

This is intended for trials in Navi Mumbai. With push from GoI for alternate fuels though FAME, all manufacturers are looking at options and showcase technology for next wave of transformation in Indian bus industry.Volvo working on Diesel - Electric Hybird, Scania working on Ethanol, BYD on Electric, Tata on Hybrid, and Ashokleyland on Hybrid and Electric. Upcoming Autoexpo could see a slew of Hybrid from both AL and TML as well.

The bus here is same as what Volvo is selling globally and around 2000 of them are on road. They are more popular in Scandinavian countries and Europe.

More details on this project here.

Volvo is a leader in hybrid technology with more than 2,300 hybrid buses sold to over 20 countries. The Volvo hybrids offer a fuel consumption which is up to 39 per cent lower than that of regular diesel buses, which in turn cuts carbon dioxide emissions by the same amount and nitrogen oxides and particles by 50 per cent.

Volvo’s electric hybrids, offering fuel savings of 75 per cent, are running in regular traffic in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Hamburg. In June last, bus route 55 was opened in Gothenburg, served by three all-electric buses and seven electric hybrids from Volvo Buses. In all, Volvo has sold more than 5,000 hybrids and full electric buses worldwide.

http://www.motorindiaonline.in/buses...uses-in-india/

From Mr.Passey, Senior Vice President – Region International, Volvo Bus Corporation, and Chairman, Volvo Buses India

We are looking to introduce our hybrid buses in India, and you will see them in the coming months. We are already in dialogue with a few cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi

http://www.motorindiaonline.in/buses...in-india-soon/

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

This is intended for trials in Navi Mumbai.

The bus seen here is most likely going to be showcased at the 'Make in India ' week scheduled in the coming weeks.
Swedish PM and top Volvo Officials will participate in the same!

[Rajeevraj]

BMTC in Bangalore had done a trial run of an electric bus manufactured by BYD a couple of years back (Thread Link). Used to run in the Majestic-Kadugodi Route. But they stopped after the trial run of 3 months citing prohibitive costs.

From the Deccan Herald

BMTC officials say that the bus stopped operations after June 1 as per the agreement for a free trial period and the response of commuters has been satisfactory. However, whether BMTC will buy such buses on its own is a decision which is still to be taken as the cost proposed by the Chinese manufacturer is substantially higher.

Officials in BMTC say that the bus costs a whopping Rs 3 crore, which is very expensive even though the operation cost is relatively less.

While a Volvo bus costs about Rs 80 lakh to Rs 90 lakh, officials are in a dilemma over buying the electric bus at such a huge cost.

They say three luxury buses can be purchased at the price of one electric bus. Moreover, officials maintain that the depreciation cost of the bus is more than the savings on fuel, which does not help in the long run.

The BYD Bus was an all Electric Bus. This one from Volvo is an Electric Hybrid which seems more practical. With the current focus on Electric Vehicles and more incentives from the government, hope this new effort is more successful.

[dreamliner17]

Glad to see the Hybrid version of the Volvo on its way to be a part of the NMMT fleet (Hopefully!). The similar diesel Volvos, part of the NMMT fleet gather decent ridership compared to the BEST Cerita buses. A friend has even informed me that on certain routes (like andheri station east to powai) the NMMT Volvo's cost almost 'half' the fare charged by the BEST Cerita's!

The Volvo hybrid seems to be quite promising. It's true that they come at a premium. If the Hybrid manages to convince commuters of reliability and comfortable hassle-free travel, NMMT would certainly have an edge here. Don't know if other BUS operators are 'willing' to get Hybrids into their fleet.

[ambivalent_98]

One question though. I understand that in hybrids the electric motors take over when the bus achieves a pre-set speed for a sufficient duration of time. Lets say like a cruise on the highway. But looking at the mess in Bangalore I wonder when the electric motors will turn on since the only time buses can cruise is early mornings.
Or is this switch to electric option controlled by the driver ? (my guess is the switch is automatic but then again this is just a commoner's opinion).

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

One question though. I understand that in hybrids the electric motors take over when the bus achieves a pre-set speed for a sufficient duration of time. Lets say like a cruise on the highway. But looking at the mess in Bangalore I wonder when the electric motors will turn on since the only time buses can cruise is early mornings.
Or is this switch to electric option controlled by the driver ? (my guess is the switch is automatic but then again this is just a commoner's opinion).

The electric motor is used for start-stop traffic, because of the full torque availability at 0 rpm. The Volvo bus in question is a parallel hybrid, which means, the electric motor and the diesel engine work in tandem - the motor gives the initial push from stand-still condition, and the diesel engine takes over when the battery gets depleted below a certain threshold, to provide motive power as well as charge the battery pack. Normally hybrids use the motor as a generator too, to regenerate energy during braking and coasting. A combustion engine operates at peak efficiency only at a narrow band of rpm, hence it's more suited for cruising rather than city traffic

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Lets say like a cruise on the highway. But looking at the mess in Bangalore I wonder when the electric motors will turn on since the only time buses can cruise is early mornings.

As long as the battery has enough charge, it will greatly benefit the buses when they are stuck in crawling traffic. That will be a huge plus point as the buses in bangalore running on ring road routes tend to burn fuel idling for most of the times when stuck in jams. Hence, when the bus is crawling, it can use only the motors whereas once speed starts picking up the engine can come to life and accelerate to higher speeds. It will lead to huge fuel savings since electric motors need energy only when the bus needs to move.

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by audioholic

That will be a huge plus point as the buses in bangalore running on ring road routes tend to burn fuel idling for most of the times when stuck in jams. Hence, when the bus is crawling, it can use only the motors whereas once speed starts picking up the engine can come to life and accelerate to higher speeds. It will lead to huge fuel savings since electric motors need energy only when the bus needs to move.

Is this the actual way it is going to work ? Your point on the buses burning fuel in traffic jams is 100% correct. However I think the torque on the motors and in turn the current from the batteries will be huge for crawling conditions and start stop so electrics working would be slightly impractical. However as I also earlier said I am no expert in the matter but just thinking logically.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Is this the actual way it is going to work ? Your point on the buses burning fuel in traffic jams is 100% correct. However I think the torque on the motors and in turn the current from the batteries will be huge for crawling conditions and start stop so electrics working would be slightly impractical. However as I also earlier said I am no expert in the matter but just thinking logically.

Logically you are looking at it from a load point of view thinking that the motor has to pull a lot of load and that will consume electricity. Theoretically, though current draw will be high when starting from standstill, I dont think that is impractical. Since I have lost touch in electrical subjects I wont be comptetent enough to give you a technical explanation. However, power electronics has come a long way and I am sure that these aspects will be looked into. There is no point in providing motor only for constant cruising, that is just an added feature. Power demand is the deciding factor. The acceleration when running electric only can be limited to make the batteries last longer or such.

[Ashley2]

Byd is by far the largest Electric vehicle manufacturer in world today. They have their vehicles running across Europe, Middle East and thousands of them are running in China. If Volvo releases a press note saying total of 2300 of Hybrids are running, Byd's last year Electric bus sales volume itself is much higher than what Volvo have sold for years. Volvo all electric buses are just under going trials in Gothenburg and serial production is likely to start only later next year.
When everyone is speaking about 10m and 12m buses, BYD has a 18m Articulated Electric bus and is working on 10m Double Decker for London. In UK they have worked with Alexander Denis and made a JV and bagged an order for 51 12m single deck buses (DD is also part of this JV). Proto was already displayed in Bus World Kortrijk.
Amsterdam Airport now is all electric BYD. Same story continues in Spain, Poland, and many european countries.
Even in India post BMTC trials, they have already started next trial in Rajkot. Buses are currently under trials there. When a tender was called sometimes ago in WB only BYD and Ashokleyland participated.
So its not Volvo, its actually BYD who is going to get major foothold in India in next decade if Govt. Policies continue to be in the same way.
The biggest advantage what BYD has is they make the complete system for electric buses. Controllers, batteries, Motors are all from their portfolio. So its more of application engineering rather than development of technology unlike what Europeans are trying to explore.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by volkman10

The bus seen here is most likely going to be showcased at the 'Make in India ' week scheduled in the coming weeks.
Swedish PM and top Volvo Officials will participate in the same!Attachment 1467115

Here it is. The Volvo Hybrid bus showcased at the 'Make In India' pavilion .

Prime Ministers of Sweden and India along with the CEO of Volvo, in the Hybrid bus. Initially the buses will be brought the CBU route with CKD and phased localization plans going forward.