Six new and eco-friendly double-deck buses — the first of a new generation of hybrid vehicles from Volvo — are now tooling about London.

The Volvo B5L Hybrid Double Deck buses entered service this week on Arriva London’s Route 141. Each bus is powered by a combination of an electric motor and a diesel engine, with the system being parallel in that it can be powered by either source independently, or in combination drawing on both power sources at the same time.

Test development and service field trials with Arriva London have shows the buses yield significant savings in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as a reduction in a nitrous oxides and particulates.

This past May, Volvo also released its 7700 Hybrid Single Deck bus in the company’s home city of Gothenburg in Sweden. The first months of service there have shown better-than-expected fuel savings of about 30 per cent.

“The continuing trend in ever-higher fuel prices means that the payback period on the incremental capital cost of this technology is being further reduced, making investment in hybrid vehicles a viable option for an ever-increasing number of cities in Europe and beyond,” said Stefan Nordström, senior vice president for Volvo Buses Europe.

“With the support of Transport for London, this is a pioneering project for Arriva to be involved with,” added Mark Yexley, managing director of Arriva London. “These six vehicles will provide an excellent opportunity to assess the benefits and the whole life cost proposition of hybrid technology in a real-life, day-to-day operating environment.”

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