Volvo Buses
Global
Batteries designed and assembled by Volvo
The traction batteries must store and deliver the energy your routes require. Not just under ideal conditions when the vehicle is new, but through all seasons and operating environments over its entire lifetime. This demands high quality, consistent performance, predictable ageing, and correct size, based on your routes and charging strategy. We provide batteries you can rely on.
Our right-sizing philosophy
Battery sizing doesn’t have to be complicated, but getting it right makes all the difference. Consider your routes, their energy demands, your charging strategy, and your battery configuration as variables that together form the equation for finding the optimal size of your energy storage. Add appropriate margins to handle cold or hot climates, and you’ll be well prepared.
Your batteries – our promise
Our usable energy commitment ensures that your batteries maintain a guaranteed minimum level of usable energy throughout the entire contract period, so you never have to worry about being left with less capacity than agreed. It’s our responsibility to take corrective actions in the event that the energy storage capacity decreases. This promise gives you reliable and predictable performance every day, while also supporting more sustainable use of materials and resources across the vehicle’s full life cycle.
The battery
Scalable and robust architecture
Functionality, scalability, and safety are at the core of Volvo Buses’ energy storage architecture. A variety of battery chemistries and module configurations make it possible to tailor each solution to different vehicle types and operational needs. For low-entry bus and coach chassis, we preferably use cube shaped battery packs – and for our low-floor bus chassis, we utilise flat-pack battery packs for optimised packability.
The different properties of NCA and LFP
Every battery type has its advantages. Volvo’s cube batteries are of NCA type. Typically, they offer high energy density, fast charging capabilities and consistent performance in various temperature, including cold weather. Our flat-pack batteries are either based on NCA or LFP chemistry. The latter typically offer high thermal stability and long life cycles in operations with frequent charging. Whatever the choice, all Volvo Buses’ traction batteries are combined to offer the performance, stability and safety your operation needs.
Withstanding collisions, fire and water
Our battery systems are protected mechanically, electrically, and thermally. Electronics and cabling are shielded from crash forces, and the batteries sit within their own steel cages, with surrounding structures tested to withstand the impact of a collision with a car. Thermal barriers with heat-resistant materials protect the cells, and the entire chassis is designed to withstand water ingress.
Control systems that protect
All electric Volvo buses are equipped with a Battery Management System (BMS) that continuously monitors temperature, current, and pressure at cell, module, pack, and system level. Monitoring takes place both during operation and charging. If the voltage or temperature of any cell moves outside the defined safety window, the system reacts immediately. Thermal control is ensured by separate liquid-based cooling and heating systems that optimise both safety and long-term battery health.
Our battery range
The power of e-mobility
Volvo Buses currently uses three types of batteries with different energy capacity, formats, and properties.
Cube pack, NCA
The cube pack NCA is a compact design used in buses and coaches with low-entry and high-floor vehicle designs.
| Type | Lithium-ion (NCA) |
| Energy | 90 kWh |
| Weight | 535 kg |
Flat pack, NCA
The flat pack NCA battery offers high energy density and capacity per unit and suits low-floor vehicle designs.
| Type | Lithium-ion (NCA) |
| Energy | 94 kWh |
| Weight | 600 kg |
Flat pack, LFP
The flat pack LFP battery offers offers a compact installation format and suits low-floor vehicle designs.
| Type | Lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) |
| Energy | 44 or 39 kWh |
| Weight | 263 or 234.5 kg |
Battery capacity
How it works
Data about installed battery capacity can be confusing. In the real world, you need to consider how much of that capacity can actually be used when the batteries are new as well as after years of use. We’re there to help you get access to the right capacity over time.
Installed capacity vs. usable energy
A vehicle’s total installed battery capacity can never be fully utilised. Usable energy is the portion of the battery’s total energy that can be safely accessed during operation without risking damage or excessive wear. It excludes the built-in buffers that protect the cells. In a Volvo electric bus or coach, the usable energy is 100% accessible and usable – so there’s no need to recharge at a certain percentage of state of charge.
Predictable battery performance over time
Every charging and discharging cycle causes wear on the batteries, which over time degrades their storage capacity. Eventually, this makes a difference to the vehicle’s operating range. With our usable energy commitment, we guarantee that you always have access to the battery capacity agreed on – regardless of age. To achieve this, the energy storage capacity will be higher than agreed when the vehicle is new – but it will never be lower than what’s agreed during the contract period.
Usable energy commitment
Our promise: batteries that last
There’s no need to worry about battery degrading. Our usable energy commitment is a guarantee that your electric vehicle can be charged with the agreed amount of usable energy, throughout the entire contract period. The required energy capacity is jointly defined and based on your specific routes and operational conditions.
Your capacity is our responsibility
With our usable energy commitment, the battery health and the measures to maintain the promised level are Volvo’s responsibility. Our experts continuously monitor vital battery parameters – with follow-ups accordingly. If the battery capacity doesn’t meet the agreed levels, we take corrective actions such as adjusting parameters or replacing components in the battery system to fulfill our commitment. During the contract period, our responsibilities include:
| Guaranteed minimum level of usable energy (kWh) |
| Corrective actions to maintain the minimum usable energy |
| Battery monitoring |
| Reports and follow up |
A lifetime commitment
The usable energy commitment is an agreement tailored to your needs and to how each vehicle is used. It goes beyond the standard product warranty, giving you a broader scope of responsibility from Volvo over a longer period of time – often covering the vehicle’s entire lifetime. All conditions are defined in a contract based on the main parameters:
| Agreement duration | |
| Annual mileage | |
| Average energy usage | |
| Operation location |
| Route characteristics | |
| Climate | |
| Charging power | |
Other services
More ways to improve battery life
Caring for your vehicles and their battery health is the best way to give them a long and productive life. Volvo Buses offers a range of services to make the e-mobility life easier.
Service contracts
Volvo Service Contracts offer the ultimate uptime protection based on your needs and vehicle use at a fixed monthly cost. Choose your level of backup.
Volvo Turnkey
This is our all-inclusive access to emobility where Volvo Buses can take responsibility for a broader scope of your transport solution – from vehicles and maintenance plans to fleet management, Zones management and driver training.
Recycling
Closing the loop
As a battery’s service life comes to an end, we make it ready to start over again. Within Volvo Group, we refurbish or repurpose for other applications. And in the end, we recycle the valuable materials into the industrial processes.
Repurposing
The energy storage system of a Volvo bus has a long service life. Beyond that, the batteries can be refurbished to be used in buses all over again or repurposed for other applications such as Volvo Energy’s Battery Energy Storage System adding value to society at large.
Recycling
As each battery approaches the true end of its lifecycle, we aim to extract and reuse essential materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. This process ensures that we tap into the full value of every battery, from initial use to responsible recycling.
Frequently asked questions
Depending on vehicle type and application, Volvo Buses offers batteries with either NCA or LFP chemistry and different form factors.
Volvo Buses battery systems sit well-protected mechanically, electrically, and thermally. Electronics and cabling are shielded from crash forces, and the batteries sit within their own steel cages, with surrounding structures tested to withstand the impact of a collision with a car. Thermal barriers with heat-resistant materials protect the cells, and the entire chassis is designed to withstand water ingress. On top of that, electric Volvo buses are equipped with a Battery Management System (BMS) that continuously monitors temperature, current, and pressure at cell, module, pack, and system level.
Through Volvo's usable energy commitment, Volvo Buses can keep an eye on battery health to be able to make corrective actions to keep up battery performance and prolong battery life.
Volvo's usable energy commitment is a guarantee, which promises that the batteries in a vehicle have a certain minimum energy capacity throughout the contract period. Should the energy capacity drop below the promised level, Volvo takes corrective actions to fulfill the agreement. To fulfill the usable energy commitment, new vehicles have a higher energy capacity than stated in the agreement to create a margin for wear and ageing.
Yes, Volvo's electric bus and coach platforms have a scalable architecture with modular energy storage systems to enable tailoring vehicles to have enough energy storage for their routes without oversizing.
Volvo uses a Battery Management System that continuously monitors temperature, current, and pressure at cell, module, pack, and system level. Monitoring takes place both during operation and charging. If the voltage or temperature of any cell moves outside the defined safety window, the system reacts immediately. Thermal control is ensured by separate liquid-based cooling and heating systems that optimise both safety and long-term battery health.
The Battery Management System is there to ensure optimised use and minimum wear of the bus batteries. When battery performance eventually drops below the usable levels – the batteries can either be refurbished to as good as new, be repurposed for energy storage in other applications, or recycled to use the valuable raw materials for manufacturing new batteries.
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