Volvo subsidiary Nova Bus gets big order from Canada

North American Volvo subsidiary Nova Bus has secured a total order for 1,229 battery-electric buses to ten public transport operators in the Canadian province of Quebec. The vehicles are scheduled to be delivered between 2025 and 2027.

The order initially includes 339 units of the 12 meter LFSe+ bus and options for a further 890 electric buses. The purchase is being financed by a grant of 780 million Canadian dollars from the Government of Canada and 1.1 billion dollars from the Quebec provincial government – ​​the equivalent of about 1.3 billion euros in total.

The 40-foot-long LFSe+ uses the familiar stainless steel structure of the LFS model, with the revised electric version fitted with batteries up to 564 kWh. The battery is charged by cable through the pantograph at the depot or during the journey. Compared to the LFSe, the LFSe+ uses a different electric drive with ZF axles and offers a slightly higher passenger capacity.

The Nova Bus announcement did not specify which battery option the public transport operators have chosen or whether all vehicles are configured the same. The LFSe+ frames for this order will be built in Saint-François-du-Lac and the buses will be assembled at the Saint-Eustache plant in Quebec.

The Quebec government plans to have public transit companies in the province buy only electric buses from 2025. By 2030, 55 percent of city buses, 65 percent of school buses, 40 percent of taxis and 35 percent of private cars should run on electricity. The Quebec government wants all its cars, SUVs, vans and minivans and 25 percent of its trucks to be electric by 2030.

However, other Canadian provinces have also recently had large procurement projects involving electric buses. Toronto in British Columbia wants to buy 340 electric buses. Calgary (Alberta) plans to buy nearly 300 electric buses over four years and Ottawa (Ontario) plans to buy up to 350 electric buses — but all three examples are for individual cities, not a unified collective order like in Quebec.
novabus.com