Skip to main content

Gothenburg launches electric bus route 55

Gothenburg, Sweden, has launched the city’s first route for electric buses on bus route 55 using three completely electrically driven buses and seven electric hybrid buses, all from Volvo Buses. The buses are also equipped with onboard wi-fi and phone charging facilities.
June 16, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

Gothenburg, Sweden, has launched the city’s first route for electric buses on bus route 55 using three completely electrically driven buses and seven electric hybrid buses, all from 609 Volvo Buses. The buses are also equipped with onboard wi-fi and phone charging facilities.

The buses are silent and emission-free and run on batteries that are quickly recharged with wind power and hydropower-generated renewable electricity at the terminal stops.

Bus route 55 is a result of ElectriCity, a collaboration between research, industry and society that develops, tests and demonstrates new, attractive sustainable collective transport for the future. ElectriCity also develops and tests new bus stop systems, traffic management systems, safety concepts and energy supply systems.

“ElectriCity and route 55 are concrete proof of how Gothenburg is being developed into a denser, more sustainable and open city with attractive public spaces and a rich urban life. The project also demonstrates our ambition and strategy to attract expertise and investment that help reduce environmental impact and develop collaboration between authorities, industry and academia,” says Anneli Hulthén, chair of the City Executive in Gothenburg.

“The Volvo Group aims to be the world leader in sustainable transport solutions. A unique collaboration in Gothenburg enables us to launch the electric bus route here and remain a leader in the development of future public transport,” says Niklas Gustafsson, chief sustainability officer, Volvo Group.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The afterlife of spent electric vehicle batteries
    April 20, 2012
    Earlier this year, General Motors signed a definitive agreement with ABB Group to identify joint research and development projects that would reuse Chevrolet Volt battery systems, which will have up to 70 per cent of life remaining after their automotive use is exhausted. Recent research conducted by GM predicts that secondary use of 33 Volt batteries will have enough storage capacity to power up to 50 homes for about four hours during a power cut.
  • Utah university demonstrates wireless electric bus
    November 19, 2012
    Utah State University (USU) in the US has developed what it claims is the first and only wirelessly charged electric bus designed and developed exclusively by a North American research organisation. Nicknamed the Aggie Bus, the new vehicle is also the first of its kind in the world to achieve key performance standards for a wirelessly charged vehicle.
  • New York MTA enters three-year pilot on all-electric and CNG buses
    January 16, 2018
    The New York Metropolitan Authority (MTA) has ordered ten all-electric buses as part of a pilot program to reduce emissions and modernize its fleet. In addition, it has ordered 110 new Compressed Natural Gas buses to operate across the Bronx and Brooklyn until the first quarter of 2019 which will also replace 781 of the oldest buses. This program also aims to provide the MTA and electric bus manufacturers with actionable data to refine and develop bus specifications for future procurements to ensure they
  • Volvo and ABB supply e-buses to Gothenburg 
    February 18, 2020
    Volvo Buses and ABB are supplying 157 electric buses and supporting charging infrastructure to the Swedish city of Gothenburg and surrounding communities of Mölndal and Partille.