BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The number of electric buses in local public transport increased more than thirteenfold between 2018 and 2023. "When the demand was launched in 2018, there were only around 200 e-buses in the German public transport bus fleet," according to the summary of a study conducted by the consulting firm PWC on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs (BMWK) on the consequences of the German government's e-bus demand.

"Five years later, in 2023, there will be 2,640." Last year alone, the number of e-buses in public transport increased by around a third or more than 780 vehicles compared to the previous year. As of the end of 2023, the plans of the transport companies surveyed indicate that around 7,400 buses with electric drives could be operating in Germany by the end of 2025. That would be around 15 percent of the entire public transport bus fleet.

Most of the fleet growth consists of battery buses

The authors of the study summarize a whole range of alternative drive types under e-buses: Battery buses, trolleybuses, fuel cell buses and plug-in hybrid buses. However, the vast majority of the increase in the fleet consists of battery-powered vehicles.

In total, around 50 projects from 65 transport companies were subsidized between 2018 and 2023 with the federal government's request. Around half a billion euros flowed into this.

Fleet target by 2030 still likely to be missed

Nevertheless, the authors of the study assume that the German government's climate protection target, according to which around half of all city buses should be emission-free by 2030, will not be met with the current framework conditions.

The Association of German Transport Companies has a similar view. In particular, it complains that the German government discontinued a funding program for electric buses following the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court on the Climate and Transformation Fund.

"The fact that the federal government has now discontinued this requirement has abruptly slowed down the successful conversion of public transport buses to electric drives," said Managing Director Martin Schmitz on request. "Many of the transport companies now have to purchase the cheaper diesel buses again due to economic constraints. This is not only bitter for the achievement of climate protection targets in the transport sector, but also for the German economy."

In some federal states and local authorities, fleet conversion has already stalled. In the summer, Hamburger Hochbahn, for example, announced that the ramp-up with e-buses, which was supposed to be completed by 2030, would be delayed by at least a few months. In Berlin, on the other hand, the BVG will have to co-finance the procurement via loans instead of subsidies from the state budget due to the tight budget situation in the state./maa/DP/men