Europe on track to have 2,500 electric buses operating within three years - report

Nine public transport operators serving 25 European cities have now published a strategy for electric buses for 2020 and have plans to deploy 2,500 of the buses by that date.

Europe, while behind the mass-deployment of electric buses in China, now has 1,300 electric buses on order, with the U.K leading the way in terms of take-up so far, followed by the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland and Germany, according to the report, published as part of the Zero Emission Urban Bus System project. The report, co-ordinated by UITP (Union Internationale des Transports Publics) describes a "burgeoning market," with European production of electric buses expected to reach full maturity by 2018-2020 and more than 6,000 electric buses expected to be in service by 2025.

China, by contrast, has 170,000 electric buses operating in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and China is aiming to produce 1.67m electric vehicles including buses in the decade to 2020.