The share of zero-emission buses is growing in the European city bus market. In the second quarter of 2023 it was 40%, up from 30% of the first quarter of the year (same share for the entire 2022). The sales figures were shared by Eamonn Mulholland, Associate Researcher at The International Council.
Six European Member States exclusively registered zero-emission city buses during this quarter: The Netherlands, Denmark, Slovenia, Ireland, Finland, and Portugal.
During the second quarter of this year, the share of zero-emission city buses reached 40%, firmly establishing their dominance as the preferred technology choice. The sales figures revealed that pure electric buses accounted for the majority (38%), while hydrogen fuel cell buses held a smaller but steadily growing share (2%).
The battery-electric buses remain the most popular choice, but hydrogen fuel cell buses are gaining momentum in some larger countries like Germany and France.
However, it’s worth noting that certain countries, particularly France and Italy, are still witnessing significant sales of natural gas-powered buses.
“The European Commission has proposed a target of 100% zero-emission bus sales by 2030. The current market trends show this is a very achievable standard, since more and more countries phase out the sale of the internal combustion engine city bus”, Mulholland added on Linkedin (a similar position has been adopted by ONG Transport & Environment).
New electric buses sales are on the rise with +15%
European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) mentioned that EU sales of new electrically chargeable buses increased by 33.9% to reach 2,132 units, representing a market share of 14.4% in the first half of 2023, compared to 12.4% in 2022. Among the bloc’s three largest markets, Spain grew impressively by 755.9%, followed by France (+89.9%) and Germany (+18.1%). Hybrid-electric buses-maintained momentum (sales up 160.5%), with market share more than doubling compared to the first half of 2022 (from 6.2% to 14%). Significant growth in the second and third largest markets, France (+886%) and Spain (+180.3%), contributed to this result. Despite the shift to electric and hybrid models, diesel buses still retain the largest market share at 63%.
Source Sustainable-bus.com
