Skip to main content

Electric buses can ‘save millions’ for society and the environment

A city with half a million inhabitants would save about US$11.8 million per year if its buses ran on electricity instead of diesel, according to analysis conducted the Volvo Group and audit and advisory firm KPMG. The analysis has taken into consideration such factors as noise, travel time, emissions, energy use, taxes and the use of natural resources. The analysis was based on a city with about half a million inhabitants and 400 buses. If the buses were run on electricity instead of diesel, the total an
September 29, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A city with half a million inhabitants would save about US$11.8 million per year if its buses ran on electricity instead of diesel, according to analysis conducted the 609 Volvo Group and audit and advisory firm 1981 KPMG. The analysis has taken into consideration such factors as noise, travel time, emissions, energy use, taxes and the use of natural resources.

The analysis was based on a city with about half a million inhabitants and 400 buses. If the buses were run on electricity instead of diesel, the total annualised societal saving would be about US$11.8 million. Among other areas, the savings stem from reduced noise and air pollution, which is estimated to lead to decreased care costs of up to US$2.8 million. The annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would total 33,000 tons, corresponding to about 3,000 Swedish households.

“Standard investment appraisals do not take into account all of the costs that impact society and the environment. Therefore, to quantify all of the aspects, we have now calculated the monetary value of an electric bus line,” says Niklas Gustafsson, head of Sustainability at the Volvo Group. “The results show that irrespective of the number of parameters taken into consideration, electric buses comprise the leading public transport solution.”

“Electric buses are an excellent example of an innovation that can create substantial societal values,” says Daniel Dellham, KPMG. “By supplementing standard financial analysis with socioeconomic and environmental factors, one arrives at a more complete picture of the investment’s impact on companies and society.”

In June 2015, a new electric bus line was opened in Gothenburg with the aim of developing and testing new solutions for sustainable public transport in partnership with the Volvo Group and several partners from industry, research and society.

“The bus line is one of the most modern in the world and interest is incredibly high, not least due to the buses being completely silent and emission-free, and being run on electricity from wind and hydro power,” says Niklas Gustafsson. “But the innovation aspect primarily pertains to the complete transportation system. A system that we can now show meets society’s socioeconomic and environmental challenges.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EV inductive charging set to gain traction
    June 13, 2014
    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Analysis of Inductive Charging for Global Electric Vehicles (EV) Market, finds that the total market for inductive charging is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 126.6 per cent from 2012 to 2020, with approximately 351,900 units likely to be sold. Inductive charging will account for 1.2 per cent of both public and residential charging in North America and more than 2.6 per cent in Europe. Residential charging will be the most popular method,
  • Inrix identifies the worst traffic hotspots in the 25 most congested US cities
    September 28, 2017
    Inrix has published its latest research on the worst traffic hotspots in America. Using Inrix Roadway Analytics, a cloud-based traffic analysis tool, Inrix analysed and ranked more than 100,000 traffic hotspots in the 25 most congested US cities. The economic cost of hotspots was also calculated in terms of wasted time, lost fuel and carbon emissions over the next decade. The research identified and ranked 108,000 traffic hotspots in the 25 most congested cities in the US identified by the INRIX Global T
  • ST adds BYD to Singapore bus consortium
    March 26, 2019
    ST Engineering has added BYD as its first partner in a consortium which seeks to deploy driverless buses in Singapore. The company is equipping BYD’s electric buses with autonomous vehicle technology. The vehicles will operate in the towns of Punggol, Tengah and the Juroung Innovation District located in Singapore’s western corridor. The consortium is being formed following a request from Singapore’s Land Transport Authority and the Singapore Economic Development Board to trial autonomous buses and shut
  • Fleet tracking system delivers cost and customer benefits
    May 22, 2012
    Introduction of a fleet tracking system has provided expected headline benefits. But it is the intangibles that have been most valuable Crescent Electric Supply Company (CESC) was founded in 1919 and is one of the largest independent distributors of electrical hardware and supplies in the US. Based in East Dubuque, Illinois, the company has 120 distribution facilities in 27 states, serving contractors, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) needs of commercia