Volvo BZL
The Volvo BZL is a full-size zero-emission battery electric bus chassis for both single-decker buses and double-decker buses, manufactured by Volvo since 2021. The BZL Electric range was launched in September 2021, with the first right-hand drive examples being built as demonstrators for the UK and Ireland market, using double-decker and single-decker bodies by MCV Bus & Coach. The chassis range features  heat pump-powered heating and ventilation, and is claimed to be 90% recyclable. It is also built to a high safety standard with multiple new safety innovations such as sealed battery compartments and a strengthened front frame. Operators

The first Volvo BZLs for the United Kingdom were delivered to Stagecoach West Scotland, with deliveries for 25 MCV-bodied single-deck BZLs for use in Ayrshire commencing in February 2023. The first double-deck MCV-bodied BZLs would then enter service with Stagecoach East in Cambridge from May 2023, with 30 of the type delivered for use on the Cambridge park and ride and other services in the city. Stagecoach Manchester's Stockport depot is to take delivery 150 double-deck and 20 single-deck BZLs in summer 2024, the largest zero-emissions bus order by the Stagecoach Group to date, which was followed by an order for 19 single-deck BZLs for Stagecoach London, which are to be delivered from late 2023. Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, forty-eight MCV-bodied single-deck BZLs were ordered by Metroline, with delivery planned for the second half of 2023, which was followed by an order for a further 28 single-decks for use on routes 316 and 228, which are to be delivered the first quarter of 2024. Warrington's Own Buses plans to take delivery of 105 single and double-deck BZLs to replace the operator's entire diesel bus fleet, with deliveries planned to commence in early 2024, while Lothian Buses plans to take delivery of 50 double-deck BZLs in two batches for service in Edinburgh in 2024. Demonstrator models have entered service with Stagecoach South in Winchester, East Yorkshire in Kingston upon Hull, and First South Yorkshire in Sheffield. In Australia, a BZL with a Volgren Optimus single-decker body designed for the Australia and New Zealand market was unveiled in October 2021 at Volvo's Australian headquarters in Brisbane. The first four Volgren-bodied BZLs entered service with Transperth in the suburbs of Perth between February and March 2022, followed by the first of 17 BZLs ordered for Transdev Queensland in February 2023, and two BZLs for the Transport for Brisbane for use on the Spring Hill Loop service in May 2023. In Singapore, a Volvo BZL with a three-door SC Neustar City body, unveiled in November 2022 and developed in joint partnership between Volvo and local bus and coach bodywork manufacturer SC Auto, entered service on trial with Tower Transit Singapore on 26 March 2023 on route 990, while in Colombia, a Volvo BZL built with Marcopolo bodywork was unveiled at a tech expo in the capital Bogotá in June 2023 for use on the city's TransMilenio  bus rapid transit (BRT) system, the first bus from a European manufacturer to be delivered to the country; this BZL began trial operations in Curitiba in Brazil, with further trials in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile to follow. References

External links

Volvo BZL official website

Battery electric buses
Low-floor buses
Vehicles introduced in 2021
BZL