Skip to main content

The bus future is electric, says UITP

More and more cities in Europe and around the world are turning to electric buses (or e-buses) in an effort to go green according to UITP’s new ZeEUS eBus Report. The report, published as part of the Zero Emission Urban Bus System project, reveals that 19 public transport operators and authorities, covering around 25 European cities, have a published e-bus strategy for 2020. By this date, there should be more than 2,500 electric buses operating in these cities, representing six per cent of their total fl
January 11, 2017 Read time: 3 mins
More and more cities in Europe and around the world are turning to electric buses (or e-buses) in an effort to go green according to UITP’s new ZeEUS eBus Report.

The report, published as part of the Zero Emission Urban Bus System project, reveals that 19 public transport operators and authorities, covering around 25 European cities, have a published e-bus strategy for 2020. By this date, there should be more than 2,500 electric buses operating in these cities, representing six per cent of their total fleet of 40,000.

Meanwhile, more than 13 public transport operators and authorities in a further 18 European cities have a strategy up to 2025; by then, they are expected to have more than 6,100 electric buses in service, representing 43 per cent of their total fleet of 14,000.

The report also includes a market analysis conducted among bus manufacturers, which indicates that a European series production of electric buses should reach full maturity by 2018-2020. These developments all bode well for the uptake of fully electric buses in the near future, since demand and supply are now beginning to converge.

The report gives an overview of the electric buses in operation in Europe today, along with the different solutions available on the market, featuring 61 cities around Europe that operate or test high capacity e-buses (at least 12m long or with capacity for at least 55 passengers). The publication also lists 27 manufacturers that offer this type of vehicles for the European market.

A wide range of technological solutions exist for the electrification of public transport, but every choice is dependent on the local situation and can result in a different total cost of ownership and the report offers an overview of experiences from various cities regarding the feasibility of implementing e-buses.

Looking wider afield, the report estimates the worldwide e-bus fleet to have reached approximately 173,000 in 2015. China is leading this global mass deployment, with more than 98.3 per cent of the global total (170,000 buses) operating in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. These developments are strongly endorsed by Chinese government policy, which includes a ‘new energy buses’ programme, aiming to produce 1.67m electric vehicles (including e-buses), and to create 1.2m jobs annually from 2010-2020.

In terms of scale, Europe follows Asia with over 1,300 electric buses delivered or on order. This figure includes battery buses (overnight and opportunity charged), plug-in hybrid buses and trolleybuses with batteries for off-wire operation. The greatest number of electric buses of the above types can be seen in the United Kingdom, with over 18 per cent of the total European fleet, followed by the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland and Germany, with around ten per cent each.

Related Content

  • November 18, 2013
    Europe’s public transport ITS market expected to exceed US$1.9 billion by 2017
    According to new research from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the market value for public transport intelligent transport systems (ITS) in Europe was US$1.3 billion in 2012. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of nine per cent, the market is expected to reach US$1.9 billion by 2017. Berg Insight suggests that the European market for ITS for public transport is in a growth phase which will continue throughout the forecasted period. The fluctuating economic climate has in most countries had little eff
  • May 18, 2016
    Indian tech company wins award for turning diesel buses into EVs
    The International Transport Forum (ITF) has awarded India-based technology firm, KPIT Technologies, the Promising Innovation in Transport Award 2016, for its development of a system that can convert new as well as existing diesel buses into full electric buses. KPIT’s smart electric bus technology is modular and highly versatile, making is possible to retrofit different vehicle types from mini buses to large 12-metre public transport buses. The first bus retrofitted by KPIT went into serviced in 2015
  • November 2, 2018
    Port Authority of New York to go all-electric
    A leading US public transportation agency has become the first in the country to embrace the Paris Climate Agreement, and will introduce an all-electric airport shuttle bus fleet. The voluntary Paris deal is aimed at curbing global temperature rise to under 2 degrees Celsius. As part of a commitment to achieving this, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it will aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 35% by 2025 – and 80% by 2050. Its shuttle fleet will consist of 36 electric vehicl
  • November 21, 2018
    RATP Dev aims to turn London bus depot ‘all-electric’
    RATP Dev is upgrading one of its London bus depots to house a fleet of 36 electric buses. The Shepherd’s Bush location will house the vehicles for two all-electric Transport for London (TfL) bus routes, and the French company says it plans to turn the location ‘all-electric’, making it RATP’s first zero-emissions garage in London. The firm already operates four all-electric buses out of Hounslow, and 246 hybrid buses within the UK capital altogether.