Volvo electric bus

Analysis conducted by Volvo and advisory firm KPMG shows large savings from switching from diesel to electric buses.

For example, a city with about half a million inhabitants could see savings reach SEK 100 million (nearly $12 million) annually.

"The analysis has taken into consideration such factors as noise, travel time, emissions, energy use, taxes and the use of natural resources." "The analysis was based on a city with about half a million inhabitants and 400 buses. If the buses were run on electricity instead of diesel, the total annualized societal saving would be about SEK 100 million. Among other areas, the savings stem from reduced noise and air pollution, which is estimated to lead to decreased care costs of up to SEK 24 million. The annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would total 33,000 tons, corresponding to about 3,000 Swedish households."

Niklas Gustafsson, Head of Sustainability at the Volvo Group said:

“Standard investment appraisals do not take into account all of the costs that impact society and the environment. Therefore, to quantify all of the aspects, we have now calculated the monetary value of an electric bus line. The results show that irrespective of the number of parameters taken into consideration, electric buses comprise the leading public transport solution.”

Daniel Dellham, KPMG commented:

“Electric buses are an excellent example of an innovation that can create substantial societal values. By supplementing standard financial analysis with socioeconomic and environmental factors, one arrives at a more complete picture of the investment’s impact on companies and society.”

Volvo already launched an electric route in Gothenburg (see video), and is experiencing high interest, so if the profitability is as good as the report indicates, then we should expect a flood of electric buses soon.

Niklas Gustafsson adds: