First announced in August 2012, the Volvo B5RLEH, also known as Volvo B5RH and Volvo B215RH, is a hybrid-electric

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 ...

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 ...

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 2013, initially only available in the

Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

region. There is also a B215RH model for

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, manufactured by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, available as both low- and

high-floor High-floor describes the interior flooring of commuter vehicles primarily used in public transport such as trains, light rail cars and other rail vehicles, along with buses and trolleybuses. Interior floor height is generally measured above the ...

chassis.

Operators

In January 2013, Australian operator

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

took delivery of 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 ...

bodied B5RLEH for use on its

Perth Central Area Transit The Perth Central Area Transit (Perth CAT) system, or simply CAT, consists of five bus routes in the centre of Perth, one bus route in Fremantle, and three bus routes in Joondalup. Similar services exist in Rockingham (the City Centre Transit ...

network. In January 2014, a second

bodied Volvo B5RLEH commenced a 12-month trial with

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

operator

Torrens Transit Torrens Transit is an Australian bus service operator in Adelaide. It operates some services as part of the Adelaide Metro network under contract to the Government of South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems, which is a part of the ...

. In March 2015, a third

bodied Volvo B5RLEH commenced a 6-month trial with Singapore operator SBS Transit. It debuted on Express 506 from 1 March 2015 and later operated on services 185 and 143 till 10 September 2015. On 11 February 2016, an additional six month-trial was permitted and the bus was redeployed to the Ang Mo Kio Depot for operations on services 268 and 13. At the end of the trial period, the bus was deregistered and returned to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where it was operated by

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As at 2018, CDC Melbourne was the third-largest commuter b ...

until March 2019. In April 2015, the first Volgren Optimus bodied Volvo B5RLEH commenced a trial with

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 ...

operator

Brisbane Transport Transport for Brisbane, previously called Brisbane Transport'','' is an organisational division of the Brisbane City Council, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for de ...

. Between June 2017 and December 2018,

Transport Canberra Transport Canberra & City Services (TCCS) is a directorate of the Government of the Australian Capital Territory of the Australian Capital Territory, responsible for managing roads, footpaths and cycle paths and managing public transport in Can ...

, the sole government bus operator in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

, leased a demonstrator Volvo B5RLEH with a

Bustech BusTech Group is an Australian bus-building manufacturer with production facilities in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Edinburgh Adelaide, South Australia and Burnie, Tasmania. BusTech Group produces fully built up integral route buses, school bus ...

VSTH body as part of the territory's electric bus trial. It was registered as BUS-712, and was wrapped in a special livery before starting service, as it arrived in the standard Transport for NSW livery. It ran alongside two BYD Toro electric buses as part of this trial. In June 2019

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

based transport operator

Port Stephens Coaches Port Stephens Coaches is an Australian bus company operating services in Port Stephens and the Hunter Region. History In the 1940s, the Newcastle to Nelson Bay service was purchased by the Fogg family. In 1957, the route was purchased by Sid ...

begun using two Volvo B5RLEH bodied

VST buses for use on student university shuttles between UON's Newcastle campus and Callaghan campus. one bus wears a special modified TransportNSW livery covered in plant decals while the other is covered in all over advertising (AOA) promoting Volvo's Hybrid bus.

Engines

D5F,Volvo B5LH spec sheet
Volvo Buses , in-line 4 cyl. turbodiesel (2013–present) * D5F215 - , 800 Nm, Euro 5/EEV

References

External links

* *
Introduction
Volvo Buses Australia {{Volvo Buses, state=collapsed Vehicles introduced in 2013 B05RLEH Hybrid electric buses Low-entry buses Single-deck buses Bus chassis