Half of all new city buses in EU run on electricity, hydrogen

Nearly half of all new city buses in the European Union were zero emission in 2024, according to Transport and Environment.

Electricity and alternative fuels are gradually coming to dominate European cities’ bus fleets. Every year marks some milestone, and Transport and Environment (T&E) sees 2025 as a turning point.

In 2023, electric buses accounted for 36% of new city bus sales in the EU, overtaking diesel for the first time.

Last year 49% of all new EU city buses were of the zero-emission type in 2024 and 46% were electric. T&E said city buses are one of the early success stories of the European Green Deal.

The Brussels-based NGO attributed it both to new European regulations from last year, saying it sent a clear market signal that the days of diesel buses are numbered, and to city-level policies such as zero-emission zones and fleet targets.

As a result, the city bus market is shifting much faster to zero-emission technologies than what is required under the EU’s Clean Vehicle Directive and the CO2 standards for trucks and buses. At the current growth rate, city buses are on track to reach fully zero-emission sales by 2027, T&E estimated.

For city residents, it added, it means quieter streets and cleaner air.

Sales in 2024 exceeded T&E’s projection made last year as the uptake in fuel cell buses was faster than expected.

The fuel cells technology achieved major gains in Germany, Spain, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom

Fuel cell hydrogen city buses have doubled their market share to close to 3% in 2024. The fuel cells technology achieved major gains in Germany, Spain, Poland, Italy and the UK.

Contrary to the zero-emissions group, sales shares of other powertrains remained stable at relatively low points. Hybrid city buses, usually around a fifth of new EU sales, made up only 16% in 2024. Similarly, gas city buses stagnated at their historically low level of 14%.

North is leading the way

The European market is led by the Netherlands, Finland, and Iceland, with 100% battery electric city bus sales in 2024. Spain is first among major markets (ones with over 1,000 new city bus sales annually). It reached a 57% zero-emission share and overtook the UK, which ranks a very close second, at 56%.

According to T&E, the city bus market is relatively small, with only a few hundred or a few thousand vehicles sold each year in a given European country. Ranking countries based on cumulative shares since 2021 also brings interesting data.

The Netherlands led the transition: less than 1% of new city buses since 2021 run on diesel fuel. Close behind are the Nordics and a few East and South European countries. Since 2021, roughly two thirds of new city buses in Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece have been of the battery electric type.

Six countries have been shifting markedly slower than the rest of Europe: Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Estonia, Slovakia, and Croatia.