The world debut of the highly efficient Volvo Hybrid Double Decker bus took place in London yesterday.  In total, 6 such buses recently took to the roads in London and will service passengers along Route 141.

The bus, called the Volvo B5L Hybrid Double Deck Bus brings advanced hybrid technology to the streets of London.  It uses a parallel hybrid I-SAM system that was developed by the Volvo Group.  Th bus combines an electric motor with a diesel engine.  It can be powered by either power source independently or together.

The system in use in this bus cuts down on emissions during stops and reduces fuel consumption while in motion.  According to tests of the bus that took place in earlier service trials, the fuel savings is significant at a predicted 20 to 25%.

Recently, Volvo released a similar hybrid setup in a single deck bus.  This bus has been in used since May and has returned a 30% fuel savings overall.

Volvo officially turned over their first six hybrid double deckers to the city of London but expects more to make it on roadways soon.

The city will conduct a real world service trial and assess the total fuel savings before decided to add more of the Volvo buses to its fleet.

According to Mark Yexley, the Managing Director of Arriva London, "With the support of the Transport of London, this is a pioneering project for Arriva London to be involved with.  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."

Source:   Business Wire