Volvo is moving forward with an electric intercity bus – using electric truck batteries

The Swedes are marketing the new Volvo 8900 Electric as an entry-level electric bus for city, road and commuter traffic. It is offered in two lengths (12.3 or 14.9 meters) and can be equipped with four to six battery packs of 90 kWh each, which in total results in a maximum energy content of 540 kWh. The electric drive is available either as a single engine version with 200 kW or as a dual engine version with 400 kW.

The first prototype on the BZR Electric platform completes the Volvo 7900 Electric electric city bus, which is based on Volvo’s hybrid platform for low-powered vehicles. The 7900 was or is available as a diesel, CNG, hybrid or electric only bus and articulated bus. As a BEV, the 7900 city bus has up to 470 or 565 kWh (18.7m variant) batteries.

It can carry up to 110 passengers

As mentioned, the Lightning 8900, announced for 2025, will come to the market in two lengths. In the two-axle version with a total length of 12.3 meters, it offers space for 88 passengers, 43 of them are seated. As a three-axle car with a length of 14.9 meters, it can transport no more than 110 people, including 57 seated. The gross permissible weight for the small 8900 is 20.6 tonnes and for the long model it is 27 tonnes. Width and length are the same for both variants at 2.55 and 3.6 meters. Wheelbase varies by 90 cm (three-axle: 7 m / two-axle: 6.1 m).

According to Volvo, the battery packs each weigh 535 kg. The short 8900 can hold four or five packs, so it comes to 360 or 450 kWh. The long hybrid bus is designed with four to six packs, which allows a maximum capacity of 540 kWh along with 360 and 450. Interestingly, Volvo does not provide any range information.

Meanwhile, the body of the Volvo 8900 Electric is manufactured by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV). The background is that Volvo Buses decided in 2023 that it will no longer produce full-size buses in Europe itself in the future. The agreement signed last spring specifies that MCV will produce city and medium bus bodies under license from mid-2024. This has been confirmed for the Volvo 7900 Electric (exclusive and articulated bus). It was also announced last spring that Volvo Buses and MCV wanted to create an electric version for intercity buses. The results of this collaboration have now been revealed by 8900.

“We are committed to accelerating our efforts to meet the global demand for e-mobility solutions. “So it makes sense that we are expanding our e-mobility offering to include solutions for intermodal, transit and commuter operations,” says Anna Westerberg, President of Volvo Buses.

600 volt platform for two and three axle vehicles

With the BZR Electric, Volvo Buses presents a new platform on which the 8900 Electric is mounted. The manufacturer says that it is the result of a common e-mobility design from the Volvo Group. More on that in a moment. Volvo had already introduced an electric chassis in 2021 called BZL Electric (L instead of R, mind you) and is designed for individual and double-decker buses. Apart from the same name and motor power (200 and 400 kW), both have little in common. However, the BZL Electric platform is also intended to appeal to the UK, Mexican and Australian markets.

The recently released BZR Electric, on the other hand, is aimed at continental Europe and supports vehicles with a length of 9.5 to 14.9 meters and a maximum of 540 kWh of standard battery capacity. This shows that Volvo’s new electric bus makes full use of the 600 volt platform in this regard. The heart of the system is an electric motor connected to a two-stage automatic transmission, which has more than 200 kW or, in a two-motor configuration, more than 400 kW. According to the manufacturer, buses based on BZR Electric can be charged thanks to two device interfaces, both with up to 250 kW DC (the charging port is available on the left or right) and optionally through OppCharge with a maximum of 450 kW DC. The Volvo 8900 Electric presented above also offers this selection.

The BZR Electric supports vehicles up to a permissible gross weight of 27.2 tonnes and, according to Volvo, is “a productivity platform for urban, medium and passenger transport, for low or medium-sized vehicles, with one or two engines, for the storage of energy and two- or three-axis versions”. In this context, the Swedes point to the “multiple uses” of the new product. It is also considered “future-proof”, meaning: “Designed in such a way that the Fast Transport versions of Buses (BRT) and later with the use of coaches are possible,” says the manufacturer.

Batteries like those of the Volvo Group’s electric trucks

More interesting: Volvo Buses uses the same batteries for the BZR Electric as for its current generation of electric trucks – namely 90 kWh packs with NCA cells from Samsung SDI. According to Anna Westerberg, the BZR Electric is “the first common electric mobility platform of the Volvo Group, which was developed through the exchange of experience, know-how and components within the group”. This means that key components and subsystems are manufactured in bulk, “which represents an advantage in sharing spare parts and equipment.”

The president of Volvo Buses specifically emphasizes that the batteries, for example, are similar to those found in Volvo heavy trucks. Westerberg made this statement this week during the presentation of the platform in Gothenburg, which was shown there as a lower version of the three axles. Also in the spotlight: the first concept version of the Electric 8900 with a BZR chassis and a Volvo body.

As mentioned, the body in series model will come from MCS in 2025. Volvo Buses produces only chassis including electric drives in two Swedish plants in Borås and Uddevalla. However, Volvo’s factory in Wroclaw, Poland, where the chassis bodies are currently being manufactured, is closing.

MCV or Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles is a company from Egypt which, as reported, also wants to base itself in Germany with its electric city bus. MCV has plants in Egypt, Singapore and South Africa and was established as Daimler’s main agent. Since 2006, MCV has been producing cars under its brand name, which are mostly based on chassis from other manufacturers – for example from Mercedes-Benz, but also from Volvo Buses.

Therefore, the Swedes describe MCV in a statement as “one of the most important partners of Volvo Buses”, as the bodies have already been successfully delivered to customers in the UK. BZL Electric, for example, runs Metroline electric buses from two people based on chassis, and Stagecoach recently ordered 170 MCV buses with Volvo chassis. However, the partnership is not unique: Alongside the partnership with MCV, Volvo Buses says it is exploring “additional offers with other corporate manufacturers”.

sustainable-bus.com (Electricity 8900), sustainable-bus.com (BZR-Forum), volvobuses.com (Electricity 8900), volvobuses.com (BZR-Forum), volvobuses.com (press release)