The Berlin transport authority BVG has added the first articulated electric bus to its fleet as part of a research project. Besides, delivery of a total of 90 e-buses ordered from Solaris has begun with the Urbino 12 Electric models about to enter service now.

The transport company SWEG, headquartered in Lahr in the Black Forest in Germany, will bring the first Mercedes-Benz eCitaro REX from series production to the road. Daimler announced that two new Fuso eCanter that have gone into mail-delivery operation in Dublin.

The Municipal Transport Company (PKM) from the Polish city of Jaworzno is buying 20 additional electric buses and has awarded the contract to Solaris. The contract provides for the delivery of 15 Urbino 12 electric and five low-floor Urbino 8.9 LE electric.

The US charging system developer Momentum Dynamics, which specializes in wireless charging for electric vehicles, is cooperating with the North American vehicle manufacturer GreenPower Motor. They aim to integrate Momentum Dynamics’ inductive charging technology into GreenPower’s EV Star shuttle bus and to distribute it in the USA, Canada and Europe.

Denmark’s first fuel cell buses went into operation this month in Aalborg. The three Van Hool A330s with technology from Ballard are used on lines 17 and 72 and were co-financed by the EU project 3Emotion.

Servicio de Transporte Eléctricos (STE) has launched a tender for 50 battery-powered trolleybuses for use in Mexico City, which ends on 21 April. These will not be the first trolleybuses in the Mexican capital.

The US American engine manufacturer Cummins has increased their initial investment from September 2019 in Loop Energy, a Canadian manufacturer of fuel cell systems. The goal is to develop a fuel cell range extender for commercial electric vehicles.

Australia’s Adelaide Airport wants to become the first airport in Australia with a fully electric bus fleet. Plans are to begin next year, with SkyBus selected as the new operator of its shuttle buses for five years.

The US American electric bus manufacturer Proterra has appointed current Chairman Jack Allen to double as Chief Executive Officer. Ryan Popple, Proterra’s CEO since 2014, was named Co-Founder and Executive Director.

Government agencies in the US state of New York are providing more than 24 million dollars from the Diesel-Gate Volkswagen funding pot to help operators to replace diesel-powered vehicles with new battery-electric buses.

Stolichen Avtotransport, the public transit provider of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, has opened a new tender for the supply of 52 new electric buses and corresponding charging infrastructure.

Stagecoach Manchester has launched 32 all-electric double-decker buses, the first to arrive in the Greater Manchester area. The fleet will serve the 111 and 43 routes connecting Manchester city centre and the airport as well as five hospitals and three universities.

In Germany, Cologne-region public transport operator Regionalverkehr Köln (RVK) has increased its fuel cell bus fleet with hydrogen buses from Solaris. From 2021, 15 Solaris hydrogen fuel cell buses will be successively integrated into RVK’s fleet.

The British government has extended its subsidies for electric cars but is again reducing the subsidy amount. For other electric vehicles, such as vans, trucks, taxis or motorcycles, the subsidy has been extended but the subsidy rates remain the same.

The parent initiative “For Our Kids” is working to ensure that only electric school buses are purchased in British Columbia. Their aim is to push the province to phase out their current diesel fleet of school buses within 10 years.

The 15 fuel cell buses that were ordered from Wrightbus by the Scottish city of Aberdeen last year will be delivered with some delay in spring 2020. After an initial test phase, the hydrogen fuel cell buses will go into regular service this summer.

Starting immediately, the government of Singapore will only procure electric and hybrid buses from now on and aims is to completely electrify the bus fleet by 2040. Singapore’s bus fleets currently number around 5,400 vehicles.

The Polish manufacturer Solaris plans to deliver more than 500 ordered battery buses this year. The proportion of electrified buses is increasing – and with it their importance for the entire company.

In an update on the dispute between BYD and Indianapolis, it seems that now – because BYD’s very popular buses did not provide the promised range – IndyGo has ordered 13 diesel buses elsewhere and cancelled an order placed with BYD in December 2019 for five more electric buses.

The first Solaris electric bus has arrived in Berlin from an order placed in summer last year when Berlin’s public transport authority, the BVG, ordered 90 Urbino 12 electric buses. Another order of 90 vehicles is still pending.

An increasing number of manufacturers from Eastern Europe are venturing into the electric city bus business. Aleksandra Fedorska took a look at the projects of Ukrainian manufacturers for electrive.

The US subsidiary of the Norwegian energy group Nel has received a multi-million-dollar order from Trillium. Nel will supply a one-megawatt electrolyser to produce hydrogen for a fuel cell bus project in Illinois.

TransLink, the transport company responsible for the Greater Vancouver area in the Canadian province of British Columbia, plans to convert half of its bus fleet from diesel, natural gas and hybrid to battery operation by 2030. But the financing has not yet been finalised.

Electric buses and electric cars are to be produced in Egypt in the future. The Egyptian government has now reportedly reached agreements with Foton and Geely respectively.

The city of Los Angeles will receive the first of a total of 155 electric buses to be delivered over the next two years starting in March. The procurement is part of the California city’s plan to fully electrify its bus fleet by the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

London now got its third all-electric double-deck bus line on route 94, running between Acton Green and Piccadilly Circus. The electrification of route 94 brings the current total of electric double-deck buses in the capital to 280.

In the Spanish capital Madrid, the municipal public transport company EMT has inaugurated the first ‘Línea Cero’, which is operated exclusively by electric buses and can also be used free of charge. This first ‘zero line’ is operated with ten electric buses from the Spanish manufacturer Irizar.

In New Zealand’s most populous city, Auckland, 12 new electric buses are to hit city streets by the end of the year. This means that CityLink bus services will be using an all-electric fleet by the end of the year.

VDL Bus & Coach is introducing a new battery package for its electric buses. In addition, the Dutch company is planning to build a plant in Roeselare, Belgium, and announced that the 670 Citea Electric buses currently in service in Europe have passed the 50 million kilometre milestone.

The German Federal Ministry of Transport has presented 168 so-called ‘future cheques’ totalling 90 million euros as part of the Electromobility Directive. These cheques will help local authorities to purchase more than 3,800 electric vehicles and almost 2,000 charging options.