The bus company Strætó hf. have announced that they will soon be deploying a hybrid bus that runs on both diesel and electricity.
In a press release from Strætó, the company says the purpose of the experiment is to see how utilising hybrid vehicles might work out in Icelandic conditions, and to see if this would be a realistic option for the company.
Starting next year, Strætó will need to recycle seven or eight buses each year. The company would like their vehicles to be more environmentally friendly, and are looking for solutions to that end. This would include the use of hybrid buses.
A diesel/electric hybrid might also prove to be especially suitable for Iceland, where electricity comes from geothermal and hydropower. The bus itself, a Volvo 7700 Hybrid, is said to not only use 30% less fuel than other buses, but also has 40% to 50% lower emissions.
Reynir Jónsson, the director of Strætó, said, “It is an exciting opportunity to try hybrid technology and it will be interesting to see how the bus holds up against other options,” adding that his company is following the development of hybrid vehicles closely, with the hope that their fleet can become as environmentally friendly as possible.
The bus is tentatively expected to be deployed tomorrow. While it will operate on a number of different routes, most of the time it will travel on the #13 route.
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