Volvo has been known to be a pioneer globally in the bus making business. The company has now decided to increase the portfolio of its passenger buses for the Indian market. The company is launching a completely new range of its buses using the platform provided by the Delhi Auto show. The buses had been unveiled for the viewing of general public just a few days back. Among the new range is a luxury coach of 14.5m length, the 9400 PX, a city bus having multi-axle, the 7400 XL and an inter-city coach that has been well engineered, the 9100.
Volvo launched its first city bus running on CNG at New Delhi a couple of months back. This was part of an initiative run by the DTC. But, at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo, the auto maker from Sweden has exceeded itself by launching its first hybrid, commercially viable bus, the 7700 Hybrid.
Though the company has already started the process of commercializing its hybrid solutions and is presently operating them successfully in 20 cities worldwide, this 7700 Hybrid is going to be its first serially produced model that is going to implement environment friendly technology.
The launch occasion for all these designer buses from Volvo was graced by the CEO & MD, Volvo South Asia, Akash Passey. Speaking on the occasion, he said that the 7700 Hybrid offered all the solutions that had been craved for by environmentalists and cities. The company was prepared and was just waiting for the direction from the authorities along with the demand for the vehicles so that the buses could be customized to address Indian requirements. The 7700 Hybrid has been showcased by the company just to show the readiness and intent that it has for India.
Just as in the case of conventionally designed hybrid cars, this Hybrid bus is also going to make use of small diesel engine along with its electric motor; both can be made use of jointly or independently for achieving forward propulsion.
One of the best features of this Hybrid 7700 model that Volvo has offered is that its electric motor can recover its charge whenever the brakes of this bus is applied. Exactly in the same lines of the technology of start/stop that has been fitted to large executive sedans for the purpose of saving fuel, the 7700’s diesel engine also completely switches off, when the bus stops. This helps in providing an exhaust-free and silent environment.
Another latest feature that this bus from Volvo has been provided with is that the coach performs equally well in highly congested city roads as well as in those scenarios where there is a greater gap between two stoppages.
