Resumen de Volvo sees electric future in city transport
The Swedish automaker's 7900 electric bus is due to hit the UK roads next year, as London and other European capitals strive to rein in pollution and improve city landscapes. Amid targets to improve air quality, Volvo is banking on electro-mobility to drive new business.
As major cities seek to curb air pollution and improve the viability of their transport systems, public transport is unmistakably heading towards electro-mobility, and buses are at the forefront of the upgrade.
France and the UK both announced in recent weeks that sales of combustion engine vehicles (ICEs) - your average petrol or diesel car - will be banned by 2040.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has made reducing the UK capital's high levels of air pollution a top priority of his term in office. Many European capitals are facing similar problems, and are working on their own strategies.
Swedish carmaker Volvo has been capitalising both on this gradual shift and, to an extent, taken the lead in setting new targets for its industry, when it announced it would phase out ICEs by 2019.
From then on, all new models launched by the carmaker will be partially (hybrid) or completely electric.
According to Edward Jobson, chief engineer at Volvo Bus Corporation (also known as Volvo Buses), the focus on electric from governments and city councils is good news for automakers: "[It's all] very positive," he told IM.
Aside from the rhetoric and media hype, the electric discourse in public transport has already had a positive effect on demand for hybrid and electric buses, he said: "We see that the volumes are picking up in many markets in Europe and there is also a strong focus on electro-mobility in North and Latin America and China."
