Almost 75% of newly registered city buses in Europe with alternative drive systems

In the first half of 2023, 6,773 city buses were registered in the EU 27 as well as in the UK, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. Of these, 73.5% had an alternative drivetrain. This included 2,567 electric buses (excluding trolleybuses) as well as 1,863 hybrid, 1,454 CNG, and 96 hydrogen buses, totaling 5,980 units. This is 34% more vehicles with alternative drivetrains than the 4,452 of the first half of 2022. The increase is mainly due to higher volumes of hybrid and electric buses, which increased their market shares from 14.7% to 21.3% and from 29.0% to 36.1%, respectively. Natural gas buses lost significant importance, accounting for only 14.7% of the market (1H 2022: 20.0%).

37.5% locally emission-free

Hydrogen buses still form a niche with 96 units sold and a 1.4% market share (1H 2022: 52 and 0.9%). But together with fully electric vehicles, 37.5% of registered city buses in the first half of 2023 were locally emission-free. The absolute volume of electric buses rose from 1,385 in the first half of 2021 to 2,567 in the first half of 2023; an increase of 85% in two years.

Development of hybrid buses inconsistent

The volume of hybrid buses followed a capricious pattern in recent years. With the introduction of the new Mercedes-Benz Intouro and the MAN Intercity LE as well as similar models, the number of hybrid buses in the intercity segment, particularly in suburban areas, is growing rapidly: from 0 in the first half of 2021 and 2022 to 422 in the first half of 2023.

MAN on the rise

Solaris continues to lead in registrations of fully electric city buses with 421 units. However, there has been significant movement behind it. MAN makes a huge leap forward to second place with 260 registrations, followed by BYD-Alexander Dennis with 223 registrations.

The most electric buses were registered in the UK in the first half of 2023, totaling 524 units (20.4%). Norway, a newcomer in the forefront, ranks second with a total of 346 units (13.5%), followed by Germany with 279 electric buses (11.6%). It is also noteworthy that Spain, with 260 registrations and a 9.2% share, has made it to fourth place.

15,222 electric city buses

In total, 15,222 fully electric city buses have rolled onto European streets since 2012. Of these, 1,884 carry the Solaris logo (12.4%). BYD continues to be the number 2 in this statistic with 1,613 registrations (10.6%), followed by BYD-Alexander Dennis with a total of 1,419 (9.8%) and VDL with 1,338 units (8.8%).

The United Kingdom leads with a fleet of 2,359 electric buses (15.5%). Germany ranks closely behind with 2,106 buses (13.8%). France ranks third with 1,739 buses and an 11.4% share, followed by the Netherlands.