Volvo Buses
Global
Volvo Buses
Global
With limited railway infrastructure and high demand for affordable, flexible transportation, Mexico is home to one of the largest bus and coach fleets in the world. This is where Volvo Buses launched Luminus, a bus designed for sustainable people transport – and circularity. For airport operator OMA, the first customer to acquire it, Luminus represents much more than just a bus.
At a bus stop in the heart of Mexico City, a small crowd waits for Line 4 of Metrobús – a bus line part of the city’s Bus Rapid Transit system. As passengers board, they join the 3.75 billion trips made annually in Mexico, according to the International Road Transport Union (IRU). This figure underscores the country’s reliance on its vast bus network and why it is a crucial arena for advancing sustainable people transport solutions.
Yet, despite the growing adoption of electric vehicles within Mexico’s bus fleets, the next bus to arrive will likely still run on conventional fuel. But that may soon change.
“Transitioning to electromobility is a significant challenge for governments and operators,” explains Francisco Loera, Sales Manager at Volvo Buses Mexico. Loera has been closely involved with Luminus, Volvo’s fully electric city bus.
He is based in Tultitlán, a city just north of Mexico City and home to Volvo Buses’ manufacturing plant. The journey of Luminus begins long before it reaches the factory floor. Designed with a circular approach, every aspect of the bus – from material selection to component design – focuses on sustainability. The result is impressive: over 90% of the BZL chassis used in Luminus is recyclable, along with 60% of the body.
“When customers see the level of responsibility we take toward sustainability, they are amazed. It exceeds their expectations”
This commitment to sustainability has already attracted significant interest – as well as its first customer.
“From design and manufacturing to material selection and recycling potential, every aspect aligns with our sustainability goals,” says Raful Zacarías, Monterrey Airport Administrator at Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte (OMA).
OMA, the operator of Monterrey International Airport in northeastern Mexico, integrates Luminus into daily operations, transporting passengers while contributing to the company’s sustainability goals. “We don’t view this as just a bus – it’s a meaningful contribution to environmental care,” Zacarías adds.
A key question for electric buses is what happens to their batteries at the end of their lifecycle. With Luminus, Volvo Buses provides an innovative answer: repurposing batteries for renewable energy storage. In this case, used batteries will be used to store renewable energy back at the Tultitlán factory, closing the sustainability loop
“When customers see the level of responsibility we take toward sustainability, they are amazed. It exceeds their expectations,” Francisco Loera proudly concludes.
