Europe’s Electric Bus Market is in Transformational Growth Mode
The demand for electric buses in the Europe has augmented dramatically over the last decade. The market in the country is predominantly driven by rising air quality concerns, high dependence on conventional or non-renewable fuels, strong environmental ethics and the growing need to assimilate renewables into a network. Penetration of charging infrastructure also plays an important role in market development.
On the basis of technology, the electric bus market is broadly categorised into hybrid bus, series hybrid bus, parallel hybrid bus, and pure electric bus. In 2016, the highest number of parallel hybrid buses were circulated in Europe; however, shipments of pure electric bus are expected to become the largest by 2018, owing to the high adoption rate of such buses.
Major countries in Europe including The U.K., Netherlands, France and Germany stand as key electric bus markets. The U.K. and other Central European countries are upgrading their fleet with low or zero-emission buses and retrofitting the old buses with low-emission powertrains, which in turn is projected to intensify the growth of electric bus market in Europe, during the forecast period.
As per the current scenario, the number of circulation of such buses in Europe is relatively smaller than APAC and North America. Government subsidies, urban air quality targets and the availability of debt funding are some of the key factors bolstering the demand of electrically operated buses in Europe.
More Cities in Europe Turning to Electric Buses
According to European Environmental Agency report, ‘Air Quality Europe’, presented in 2013, the level of air pollution in Europe is above the accepted level. Except Dublin, most of the cities in every European country, surpassed the Europe’s NOx target. To control air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, diesel fleets across the region are being replaced by electric models. As compared to 2015, a larger number of such buses were sold in the region in 2016. This revolution is part of a comprehensive industrial heave towards these buses. Based on our study, the shipment of such buses in the region is projected to grow at CAGR of 41.7%, during the forecast period.
Several city authorities in the region are also taking initiatives to accelerate the growth of European electric bus market. In May 2015, C40’s transportation initiative was taken by a network of big cities combining their efforts to combat climate change. That network formed the clean bus declaration, an assurance to decrease emissions and implement low and zero-emission buses to clean-up their air.
Market Competitiveness
Companies operating in the European electric bus market are primarily focusing on providing open interface for charging to push the demand of electricity operated buses in the region. Some of the key European electric bus manufacturers include Solaris Bus & Coach, VDL Bus & Coach BV, EBUSCO, SOR Libchavy Ltd., Bozankaya, and Belkommunmash Holding. Key players operating in the European electric bus market are following the strategy of product launch to strengthen their position in the regional market. For instance, in September 2016, Solaris Bus & Coach presented its new Urbino 12 electric bus at InnoTrans 2016.
