The ongoing ElectriCity electric bus pilot program in Gothenburg, Sweden, has turned some of its buses into Christmas decorations/celebrations of a sort, going by a recent press release.
As one can see, the light decorations are quite obvious, but there’s actually more to it — the bus also plays Christmas music. Those in the area who want to see/ride the Christmas bus are probably interested in knowing that the route number in question is 55 (along Avenyn and Östra Hamngatan in the city center), and that it runs mostly primarily on weekdays.
The new promotional idea follows on the wildly successful on-board acoustic concert promotion used earlier this year by ElectriCity.
A recent email sent to EV Obsession provides more:
The surprise concerts given in September on board the bus route 55 by Seinabo Sey and Zara Larsson caught the public’s attention in both Sweden and abroad, getting more than 2.6 million views on Facebook and YouTube.
“The previous ‘Silent Bus Sessions’ campaign highlighted one of the major benefits of electric buses — how quiet they are. We want to use the Christmas show to highlight in a fun way that the electric bus allows the city’s traditional noise to be replaced by pleasant sounds,” stated Helena Lind, PR manager at Volvo Buses.
“One way you can look at the Christmas bus is like a mobile Christmas card which we are using to send Christmas greetings to Gothenburg’s citizens, while also spotlighting a successful venture where innovation and sustainability combine to create an attractive means of public transport,” stated Lars Backström, managing director of Västtrafik.
As some background here — the ElectriCity project is a pilot program to test the use of electric buses in urban parts of Gothenburg. The program currently utilizes 3 all-electric buses that are recharged entirely with renewable energy. Here’s more on the pilot project from our previous coverage:
I don’t know why all the European and American agencies are being so conservative about adopting battery-electric buses. Chinese agencies are already making bulk purchases of battery-electric buses by the hundreds, but the American and European agencies are still buying them by the ones and twos. I hope that this changes soon.