Public transport operator Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein (VHH) has now taken delivery of its 16 Mercedes-Benz eCitaro electric buses ordered in April 2019. Another four eCitaro solo buses and 17 eCitaro G articulated buses are to be delivered by the end of the year.

Solaris has announced plans for the relaunch of its 15-metre low-entry bus model, only this time, the Urbino 15 comes all-electric. The Poland-based company wants to launch the tri-axle EV this year, primarily but not exclusively for the Scandinavian market.

Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD Europe have announced the delivery of 11 zero-emission battery-electric buses to Go-Ahead London.

Germany’s Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and the technology association VDE want to promote standardisation for the rapid charging of heavy commercial vehicles building on CCS, also internationally.

Austria aims to decarbonise its transport sector. The coalition of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Greens want public authorities to exclusively purchase zero-emission vehicles as early as 2022 and otherwise focus on subsidies for the electrification of official fleets, taxis, rental cars, car-sharing, public transport as well as private cars.

The city of Auxerre has commissioned the French manufacturer Safra to deliver five fuel cell buses by the end of this year. To be precise, these are hybrid buses that combine a 30-kW Symbio fuel cell system with a 30-kilo hydrogen tank and a 132-kWh battery pack.

ABB has installed more than 100 electric bus rapid charging stations for public transport operator Qbuzz in the Netherlands. Most of these are cabled charging stations in depots, but there are also a few pantograph fast chargers.

The French city of Orléans intends to procure 180 electric buses as part of its plan to implement a fully electric public transport system by 2024. The first 29 electric buses made by Spain’s Irizar are to go into operation in the first half of 2021.

The European Investment Bank is providing 27.5 million euros to finance the introduction of cleaner buses in Spain. Specifically, it will support the modernisation of Grupo Ruiz’s bus fleet through the purchase of 32 electric and 141 natural gas buses for public transport.

It took Poland’s Rafako no more than three years to develop an electric bus. A specialist for power plant systems by default, Rafako now wants to serve a niche with its 8.5-metre city bus model. Yet, competition from Polish top dog Solaris and Chinese manufacturers is fierce.

Flemish transport company De Lijn is looking for suppliers for a total of 970 electric buses and the necessary charging infrastructure. According to a media report, the company has further asked the Flemish government for additional funding because the investment exceeds the budget.

The Daimler subsidiary was selected as the supplier for the 50 fully electric school buses of the initial phase of Dominion Energy’s electric school bus replacement program in Virginia. This will be the largest deployment of electric school buses in the USA yet.

The first hydrogen-powered Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has gone live in Pau, in the south of France. It is called Fébus and launched with the roll-out of a fleet of eight 18m Van Hool Exqui-City FC buses, serving a special six km route.

Volvo Buses aims to give its e-bus batteries a second life. In cooperation with Stena Property and Stena Recycling, the company will use its electric bus batteries as stationary energy storage in the Fyrklövern complex in Gothenburg.

In the UK, Birmingham Airport has put six Volvo electric buses into operation to replace the diesel buses it has used to date. ABB is supplying the charging infrastructure for the vehicles.

The Belgian transport company De Lijn has ordered 200 hybrid buses from VDL Bus & Coach. The order comprises 80 Citea SLE-120 Hybrid and 120 Citea SLFA-180 Hybrid, which will be used at various locations in Flanders, Belgium. The buses will always be powered electrically since the diesel is only used as a generator.

In Germany, the Hamburg-Holstein Transport Authority (VHH) has ordered 17 MAN Lion’s City E buses. MAN Truck & Bus has thus won one of two lots put out to tender. For the manufacturer, it is the first major delivery of electric buses to customers within the framework of a tender. But the decision comes as […]

BYD has received its largest single order ever for electric buses from Europe. Keolis Nederland has ordered 259 battery-electric buses from the Chinese manufacturer to be delivered from summer 2020. This is based on a new ten-year operating concession recently granted to Keolis.

BYD plans to increase the production capacity for electric buses in India from currently 2,000 to 5,000 per year in cooperation with their partner Olectra. In addition, the order books for the T3 electric delivery van in India are to be opened soon.

The Polish city of Lublin is investing in the further development of its fleet of zero-emission vehicles. Representatives of the Lublin Transport Authority and the Solaris Board have signed three contracts for the delivery of a total of 20 battery buses and 15 trolleybuses including charging infrastructure.

In Norway, the public transport operator Keolis has ordered ten trolleybuses from Solaris for use in Bergen. Deliveries of the Trollino 18 articulated e-buses are set to start in September 2020.

In Germany, Flixbus has closed the country’s first electric long-distance bus connection between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim – due to ongoing problems with the BYD buses and/or their batteries.

Mexico City has commissioned 63 battery trolleybuses from the Chinese manufacturer Yutong. 40 of the buses have already been delivered, the remaining 23 are scheduled to follow in December.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is awarding grants for bus projects in the USA again. A total of 423 million dollars for 94 projects in 42 states – including many projects with electric buses and charging infrastructure.

The Polish supplier Ekoenergetyka-Polska announces a new major order from Munich. The Munich public transport operator Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft has ordered 56 charging stations for a brand new bus depot.

The Australian city of Brisbane wants to procure 60 electric buses. The vehicles will be built by the manufacturers Hess from Switzerland and Volgren from Australia and will be quickly charged with ABB flash charging technology.

In what has been described as a “strange oversight” an upgraded Hammersmith Bridge was not made to be sturdy enough for London’s current fleet of electric double-decker buses.

The three-year strategic mobility partnership between Volkswagen and the City of Hamburg concluded in August 2016 has been extended. The most important news within the framework of the extension is that the WeShare car-sharing service will expand to Hamburg from spring next year.

Ekoenergetyka-Polska has received another order from the Polish capital Warsaw for electric bus charging infrastructure. The municipal transport company MZA ordered 65 additional depot chargers with a charging capacity of 60 kW each as well as three pantograph chargers with 400 kW each.

The Hungarian city of Paks has ordered ten battery-electric buses from Solaris. The contract provides for the delivery of six Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses and four 8.9-metre-long buses together with five charging stations.