The Volvo BZL is a full-size zero-emission

battery electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. In 2018, the National Renewable Energy Laborato ...

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

for both

single-decker bus A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two- axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which ...

es and

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

es manufactured by

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

since 2021. The BZL Electric range was launched in September 2021, with the first

right-hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...

examples being built as demonstrators for the UK and Ireland market with double-decker and single-decker bodies by

MCV Bus & Coach MCV Bus and Coach is an Egyptian manufacturer of bus bodies founded in 2002 when Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles bought some of the design rights of defunct English bus builder Marshall Bus."A Capital idea, the evolution of MCV" ''Buses Magaz ...

. The chassis range features

heat pump A heat pump is a device that can heat a building (or part of a building) by transferring thermal energy from the outside using a refrigeration cycle. Many heat pumps can also operate in the opposite direction, cooling the building by removing h ...

-powered heating and ventilation, and is claimed to be 90% recyclable. It is also built to a high safety standard with multiple new safety innovations such as sealed battery compartments and a strengthened front frame.

Metroline Metroline is a bus company operating services in Greater London and south Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation and operates services under contract to Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,5 ...

have received the double-deck demonstrator built to Transport for London specification, which they plan to evaluate alongside other battery electric

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

Orders

The first order for Volvo BZLs in the United Kingdom was received from

Stagecoach East Stagecoach East is the divisional name for the bus operations of the Stagecoach Group in eastern England. History Under the control of the National Bus Company, ''Cambus Ltd.'' was set up when the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company was split in ...

in October 2022, with the operator ordering 30 double-deck BZLs for service in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. 48 MCV-bodied single-deck BZLs specified to 9.7m, 10.35m and 10.8m lengths have also been ordered by Metroline, with delivery planned for the second half of 2023. In Australia, a BZL with a

Volgren Volgren is an Australian bus and coach body manufacturer. History Volvo Buses, VolGrenda Corporation, gren was formed in 1977 by Melbourne bus operator Grenda Corporation in Dandenong, Victoria. Because Grenda held the Volvo Buses dealership i ...

Optimus single-decker body was unveiled in October 2021 at Volvo's Australian headquarters in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Designed for the Australian and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

markets, four are to enter service with the Western Australia Public Transport Authority in 2022. A BZL bus will also be demonstrated in Colombia over a period of six months. In Singapore, a Volvo BZL with a three-door SC Neustar City body was unveiled in November 2022, developed in joint partnership between Volvo and local bus and coach bodywork manufacturer SC Auto. The bus is to enter service on trial with

Land Transport Authority The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation of Land Transport Authority Land Transport Authority (LTA) was established on 1 September 1995, f ...

operators by the end of 2022.

References

External links

Volvo BZL official website
{{Volvo Bus, state=collapsed Battery electric buses Low-floor buses Vehicles introduced in 2021 BZL