GVB, the public transport company of Amsterdam, is further expanding its electric fleet with 84 new generation VDL Citeas. These vehicles, based entirely on an electric powertrain, will be deployed from 2023 onwards. The framework contract includes an option for a further 130 new VDL Citeas, which in the coming... Read more →

Air Liquide, CaetanoBus and Toyota Motor Europe have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of developing integrated hydrogen solutions. This will include infrastructure development and vehicle fleets to accelerate the expansion of hydrogen mobility for both light- and heavy-duty vehicles. The partnership reflects the shared ambition of the... Read more →

Electreon, a provider of wireless and in-road electric vehicle (EV) charging technology, signed an agreement of cooperation with Israel public transportation company Electra Afikim. As part of the agreement, Electreon will provide Electra Afikim with wireless charging infrastructure that will enable simultaneous charging of 30 buses, 24 hours a day.... Read more →

EMT, the public bus operator in the City of Madrid, has ordered 60 Urbino 12 electric buses from Solaris, featuring high energy batteries and pantograph charging which will ensure high operability in all kinds of conditions. The contract value is more than €30 million. EMT Madrid intends to turn 25%... Read more →

Arrival, inventor of a new method of design and production of electric vehicles (EVs) by local Microfactories, announced that its Arrival Bus (earlier post) has achieved EU certification and received European Whole Vehicle Type Approval (EUWVTA). Arrival successfully completed all required system safety testing to achieve EUWVTA. This major milestone... Read more →

Proterra has selected Eaton’s eMobility business to supply a 4-speed medium-duty electrified vehicle (EV) transmission for the company’s ProDrive drivetrain used in Proterra ZX5 electric transit buses. The medium-duty 4-speed transmission, to be used in city buses in North America, addresses the primary issue related to single-speed drives that have... Read more →

Daimler Buses aims to offer locally CO2-neutral vehicles based on batteries and hydrogen in every segment by 2030. The initial focus will be on the core markets of Europe and Latin America. By 2039, only locally CO2-neutral new vehicles are to be sold in the core market of Europe. In... Read more →

The health of residents living alongside a bus route in Gothenburg, Sweden, improved when hybrid buses were replaced by buses fully powered by electricity. Accompanying the lower noise levels from bus traffic was a reduction of fatigue, day time sleepiness and low mood, a study at the University of Gothenburg... Read more →

ATM Milano has placed another order for electric buses made by Solaris, going for another batch envisaged in the framework agreement for 250 vehicles. The first two batches, 140 electric Urbino buses in total, have already been delivered. This time the operator has ordered 75 Urbino 12 electric buses that,... Read more →

Paris transport operator RATP has temporarily withdrawn Bolloré brand electric buses from operation after two separate bus fires. On Friday, 29 April, a fire broke out on a bus on line 71, towards the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand stop (Paris, 13th arrondissement). The bus driver immediately evacuated the passengers. There are... Read more →

Michigan State University officially has deployed its full-size autonomous electric bus (earlier post) and is accepting passengers on the 2.5-mile campus route. The autonomous bus is one of the largest of its kind to be deployed on US roadways to date. First introduced in November 2021 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony,... Read more →

ZF is set to launch a Collision Mitigation System (CMS) for city buses. Offering active braking to help avoid frontal collisions with other road users, including vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, the system also helps counter the adverse impact of braking momentum on passengers. Helping reduce the risk of accidents and... Read more →

Two private bus companies from Bavaria—Busreisen Ettenhuber GmbH and Martin Geldhauser GmbH & Co KG.—have ordered a total of 10 Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen buses. 5 Urbino 12 hydrogen buses have been ordered by the carrier Busreisen Ettenhuber GmbH, and another 5 units will head to the bus company Martin... Read more →

While its emphasis is on all-electric drive systems for urban traffic, Daimler Buses is introducing the Mercedes-Benz Intouro with a hybrid module for inter-city transport as well as for a combination of regular-route and touring coach services. The hybrid module is available for all two-axle models with automatic transmission featuring... Read more →

Proterra is increasing the amount of energy onboard its purpose-built ZX5 electric transit bus, delivering more battery storage to help transit agencies scale zero-emission bus fleets with electric vehicle technology. Starting in 2023, the 40-foot Proterra ZX5 Max electric transit bus can be equipped with up to 738 kilowatt hours... Read more →

Germany is awarding some €600 million to transport companies for the purchase of climate friendly buses. Around 1,700 buses will be procured by the transport companies with this tranche of funding from the new “Directive on the Promotion of Alternative Drives of Buses in Passenger Transport”. Around 1,400 are battery-electric;... Read more →

Proterra and Pace Suburban Bus has awarded Proterra a $26.5-million contract for 20 Proterra ZX5 Max electric transit buses, featuring more than 13 megawatt hours of battery storage energy, and two Proterra megawatt-scale fleet chargers. Pace is the transportation backbone of Chicago’s suburbs and one of the largest public bus... Read more →

The board of directors of the Flemish Transport Company De Lijn has started a new purchase procedure to order up to 1,250 emission-free buses of various types with lengths from approximately 8.5 to 24 meters. This procedure will run in parallel to the framework agreement for a maximum of 350... Read more →

Solaris has been awarded an order for 87 hybrid buses that will be used in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain). The hybrid fleet will be managed by AMB (Area Metropolitana de Barcelona), the institution that administers urban transport in the city and its neighboring municipalities. The low-emission hybrid Urbino... Read more →

Germany’s Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr (BMDV) has awarded around €160 million to support the electrification of public transport in Hamburg and the surrounding area. The recipients of the funding are Hamburger Hochbahn AG and Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein GmbH (VHH). These are the first funding notices to be awarded to transport... Read more →

The Mobility House has fully commissioned an intelligent charging and energy management solution that will reduce the total cost of ownership for King County Metro’s new electric bus charging pilot by more than $1 million dollars. The test charging facility, which can charge up to nine coaches simultaneously, was created... Read more →

Transit operator Miejski Zakład Komunikacji in Grudziądz, Poland signed a contract for the delivery of 17 Solaris electric buses. The contract covers not only the delivery of the vehicles, but also of the charging devices, including pantograph chargers. The buses and the charging infrastructure will be delivered to the city... Read more →

Modesto City Schools in California has a{purchased} 30 Blue Bird All American Type D electric school buses. The order—the single largest order of electric school buses from a school district for Blue Bird so far—enables the school district to convert nearly 50% of its diesel-powered bus fleet to electric. Modesto... Read more →

City of York (UK) Council has been awarded more than £8.4 million (US$11 million) by the UK’s Department for Transport to support the purchase of 44 fully electric buses. The council submitted the multi-million pound bid to the Government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme to further support the... Read more →

On 16 March 2022, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority Board of Directors, along with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), hosted a celebration recognizing AVTA becoming the first all-electric transit agency in North America. The 87-vehicle fleet consists of BYD electric buses, New Flyer’s Motor Coach Industries (MCI) coaches, and... Read more →

GreenPower Motor Company, a manufacturer and distributor of electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, launched the Nano BEAST: a purpose-built, battery-electric, Type A school bus with a range of up to 150 miles per charge. GreenPower’s Nano BEAST Type A School Bus The Nano BEAST’s (Battery Electric Automotive School Transportation) clean-sheet... Read more →

Following Gdynia, the city of Wroclaw, Poland has ordered 11 fully electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G articulated buses. The official signing took place in Wroclaw at the headquarters of the Mercedes-Benz service partner, the Wróbel Group. The vehicles are to be delivered to the municipal transportation company in the third quarter... Read more →

The Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) has approved a project from InCharge Energy, Creative Bus Sales and IC Bus to deploy 42 electric school buses and an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to support the new fleet. The electric buses will serve more than 31,000 students from 42 schools... Read more →

Solaris will deliver 30 articulated Urbino 18 buses to Dortmund at the end of 2022. This investment by public transport operator Dortmunder Stadtwerke AG in electric Urbino buses is a component of the city’s long-term strategy to reduce environmental pollution and noise in the urban area. The buses will be... Read more →

The US Federal Transit Administration will award approximately $1.47 billion in competitive grant funds from two programs to help modernize bus fleets and facilities across the country. The combined announcement is the first FTA competitive grant opportunity under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). FTA’s Low or No Emission... Read more →

Austrian bus company Österreichische Postbus AG (ÖBB Postbus) has signed another framework agreement with Solaris for the delivery of up to 106 battery-electric and hydrogen buses that would be deployed throughout Austria. The models offered include Urbino 9 LE electric and Urbino 12 hydrogen buses. ÖBB Postbus is the largest... Read more →

Isuzu Motors, Hino Motors and Toyota Motor plan to strengthen their efforts to electrify buses. In collaboration with Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies, which works to solve social issues through the spread of CASE technologies, the three companies will expand their lineup to increase customer options and reduce vehicle cost, in... Read more →

GZM Metropolis (an association of municipalities in the Silesia region in Poland) has signed a contract for the delivery of 32 new Solaris electric buses along with charging infrastructure—11 pantograph chargers and 16 plug-in chargers. GZM Metropolis will welcome 27 Urbino 12 electric and 5 articulated Urbino 18 electric vehicles... Read more →

QUANTRON has unveiled its new 12m electric bus called CIZARIS. The new bus model in the Augsburg-based company’s bus portfolio will be launched as an all-electric version (CIZARIS 12 EV), followed in 2023 by a fuel cell drive (CIZARIS 12 H) that uses a largely identical powertrain. Two- and three-door... Read more →

A consortium comprising Solaris Bus & Coach, Solaris Czech and Škoda Electric has submitted a winning bid in a tender for the delivery of 20 bi-articulated Trollino 24 electric trolleybuses, held by the Prague public transport operator Dopravní podnik. This is the first such large order for vehicles of this... Read more →

New Flyer of America has received a new contract from the New York City Transit Authority (NYCT) for 60 battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE NG forty-foot heavy-duty transit buses. The order is supported by Federal Transit Administration (“FTA”) funds and advances NYCT’s goal to reduce New York City’s carbon footprint through sustainable... Read more →

New Flyer of America has received a new contract from Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) for 17 battery-electric, zero-emission Xcelsior CHARGE NG forty-foot heavy-duty transit buses. The contract marks New Flyer’s first battery-electric bus order from RTD. RTD provides transportation in the Denver metro area, delivering nearly 33 million annual... Read more →

Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has set a target for purchasing zero-emissions city buses for public transportation operators in Israel— starting in 2026, all buses purchased will be electric. Dan electric buses The Ministry’s instructions define gradual targets up to the target year for zero-emissions buses: By 2024, at least... Read more →

BYD introduced its Type A battery-electric school bus that also offers innovative vehicle-to-grid technology, allowing the vehicle to serve as a power storage resource when it’s not transporting students. Just like our Type D bus introduced last year [earlier post], our Type A bus bi-directional charging capability is a game... Read more →

The Automated Bus Consortium, a collective of US transit agencies and departments of transportation, released a request for proposals (RFP) to procure up to seventy full-size Level 4 automated buses. “Level 4” is a designation of highly automated vehicles as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Level 4... Read more →

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will install an innovative clean energy microgrid and EV fleet charging system with Proterra and Scale Microgrid Solutions to help power the agency’s transition to a 100% zero-emission bus fleet, following a grant that was awarded for the project by the California Energy... Read more →

ROUSH CleanTech is the first original equipment manufacturer to receive California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour certification for 2022 model year vehicles. The optional ultra-low CARB certification is 90% cleaner than current emissions standards for nitrogen oxides. The new engine certification covers ROUSH CleanTech Gen 5... Read more →

Unibuss AS, one of the biggest Norwegian carriers, has contracted for the delivery of 183 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses for the Norwegian capital Oslo. The total value of the contract, concluded as a result of a tender, stands approximately €100 million. This marks the largest single-order yet for Solaris... Read more →

The Beneficial Electrification League (BEL), a Minnesota-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to increasing understanding on the benefits of electrification through education, announced a new initiative to accelerate the deployment of electric school buses (ESBs) in electric cooperative service territories throughout the country. BEL launches this coalition effort in advance of federal... Read more →

Moscow, Russia, currently runs 1000 electric public electric buses on 66 bus routes, giving it the distinction of operating the largest e-bus fleet in Europe and America. This year the Government of Moscow plans to buy 500 additional electric buses. Most of them will be purchased with the funds from... Read more →

CALSTART has released a new report, Zeroing in on ESBs, an inventory of electric school buses (ESBs). As of September 2021, there were 1,738 ESBs funded, ordered, delivered, and deployed across the US. In total, there are some 480,000 school buses in the US—more than 95% powered by diesel. While... Read more →

Vicinity Motor, a North American supplier of commercial electric vehicles, and Proterra announced a new collaboration to power Vicinity’s electric transit buses and work trucks with Proterra’s battery technology. Under a new, multi-year supply agreement, Proterra battery systems will power the Vicinity Lightning 28-foot electric transit bus and Vicinity’s strip... Read more →

Testing of the the first Russian-made articulated electric bus has begun in Moscow. After the test drive, the city plans to purchase such vehicles to service routes with high passenger traffic. The electric bendy bus has space for 135 passengers and a range of 90 kilometers; charging of the battery... Read more →

Moscow has deployed its 1000th electric bus. This electric bus has become the 400th vehicle purchased with the funds from the green bonds. The goal of the project is to show how such collaborations can help to make the city eco-friendlier as well as to draw attention to the environmental... Read more →

GILLIG and RR.AI, a developer of autonomous mobility solutions, have entered into a development agreement for next-generation advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicle (AV) technology for GILLIG transit buses in North America. This partnership will combine RR.AI’s vehicle automation experience and GILLIG’s transit operations expertise... Read more →