The operator company Nettbuss has ordered 12 hybrid buses from Volvo Buses for service in Norway, thereby becoming the first company in the Nordic region to implement the hybrid technology commercially. Hybrid buses reduce fuel consumption by as much as 30%.

The new alcolock system from Volvo Buses is specifically adapted for the bus industry’s requirement for rapid driver changes on route. The vehicle can be started without a breath test, but the brakes will remain locked if the driver is not sober.

The historic venue of Alexandra Palace in London provided a fitting backdrop today (Tuesday 7th July) for the world debut of the first of a new generation of highly fuel efficient and environmentally friendly Volvo Hybrid Double Deck buses to Arriva London.

When Volvo’s new hybrid bus now for the first time begins to carry passengers, it is happening in Göteborg. The Göteborgs Spårvägar transit company is participating in a field test with the hybrid bus that provides major fuel savings as a result of electric drive and shutting off the diesel engine at bus stops.

Volvo Buses has received its first order for the company’s new hybrid bus, Volvo 7700 Hybrid. Sales-Lentz, a bus operator in Luxembourg, has ordered six hybrid buses with delivery starting in 2009.