Green but costly, hybrid buses far from mass production

First launched by Poland’s Solaris and Belgium’s Vanhool, hybrid buses are now gaining momentum: both Volvo and Germany’s Daimler, the world leader with 42,000 buses sold in 2008, have said they will begin mass production within a year, while Man, another German company, is looking at 2011.

But for now, orders are still low in Europe, where only Vanhool has started mass-producing, following a commission by the Belgian public transportation company VVM for 79 hybrid buses.
Solaris hopes to follow suit with “contracts for 20 to 30 units,” said spokesman Mateusz Figaszewski.

The Polish company began selling its prototype in 2006 and has just sold seven more in Paris and Strasbourg, France.

Meanwhile, the bigger car companies, who came late into the game, have been left with the scraps: Volvo has just sold six hybrid red double-decker buses to London, while Sweden’s Scania has sold six more to Stockholm.

At a time of economic crisis, public transportation companies are reluctant to invest massively in a technology with such a high starting price, experts say.

“Hybrid buses will only really take off with governmental help,” said Man spokesman Thorsten Wagner.

“With that, this technology can take over 50 percent of the market within five or 10 years. Without, it probably won’t surpass 20 percent and will only catch on in places that want to appear environmentally-friendly,” he said.

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