Through government spending, the state aims to rollout 400 buses with so-called “climate-friendly” drives, along with charging infrastructure, across more than 20 bus depots.

The Busscar brand of coach bodies resumed production in 2019 under the name Carbuss - Indústria Cartarinense de Carrocerias Ltda - a subsidiary of bus body builder Caio Induscar of Botucatu, in the state of São Paulo.

Testing has been on-going since the start of the year with plans for a commercial launch later this year - the brand already has a commercial electric truck, called the eDelivery.

The O 500 RSD 2448 478hp 6x2 and O 500 RS 1945 448hp 4x2 chassis conform to Euro V emissions standard, which is the prevailing standard or better in most Latin America countries outside of Brazil.

Included in the new options is air or pneumatic suspension and a choice of manual and automated transmissions with some of the rear engine versions.

The biomethane bus trial in Londrina is the third demonstration by Compagas and Scania in 2023; the first being in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, and then in the capital city of Curitiba.

June saw the start of series production of Mercedes-Benz eO500U electric bus chassis on the modern Bus Chassis Production Line at the Mercedes-Benz do Brasil plant in São Bernardo do Campo (SP).

Starting next year, Sunsundegui will be licensed to produce the Volvo ‘9700’ and ‘9900’ coach models, based on a new chassis which Volvo Buses introduced last year.

Volvo will supply 150 double deck and 20 single deck buses based on its ‘BZL Electric’ chassis to Stagecoach, who will put them on the roads of Manchester from Summer 2024.

The range, called ‘Luminus’, is based on the BZL Electric chassis and is available in lengths varying between 9.7 and 13 metres.

Olectra Greentech has a strategic tie-up with BYD Auto Industry of Shenzhen, China.

The two five-year contracts stipulate firm orders for six ‘Xcelsior Charge FC’ fuel cell electric buses and twenty ‘Xcelsior Hybrid’ buses, and provide further options for up to 320 buses, half of which would be fuel cell electric and half of them hybrid electric.