The bus: first conquest of electro-mobility. Overview of the competitiveness and deployment of the electric bus in Europe by 2025

This study first shows that the increasing demand for electric buses is boosted by technological advances, regulation and the political will of some pioneer cities: this increase could reach 800 buses per year in France by 2020. It indicates the different technologies which are now coexisting and could finally segment the market depending on the local urban typology and exploitation needs. They notice that the urban bus offer landscape is changing with the appearance of new precursor or specialised actors, while major manufacturers display a slower transition. Despite energy low costs, technologies for electric buses are still much more expensive than diesel buses, and this gap is not yet to be filled. However, due to generated positive externalities (climate change, local air pollution, sound pollution), this higher cost will not impede an important deployment of electric buses in Europe by 2025