RATP and Ile-de-France Mobilités (a pan-industry and government stakeholder body) is opening a tender for up to 1,000 elelctric buses for Paris, worth up to €400m.
The initial tranche will see 250 buses ordered, in three batches, to ensure the early roll-out.
Paris has committed for a 100% low-emission bus fleet by 2025, with two-thirds of buses to be electric and the remainder biogas.
The tenders calls for “standard 12m” electric buses, with the first deliveries at the end of 2020.
The RATP fleet, comprising 4,700 buses, already has 800 hybrid vehicles, 140 bio-GNV and 74 electric buses.
The UK is a key market for RATP’s roll-out of electric buses. Alongside its fleet of existing hybrid buses, RATP Dev London has ordered 36 100% electric buses that will go into service on two West London routes later this year.
RATP President and CEO Catherine Guillouard says: “The massive order to equip our fleet with electric buses demonstrates our ambition to become a vital player in the energy transition of the public transport sector.
“Our aim to ensure a 100% clean fleet by 2025 in the Paris region is what can only be described as a technological challenge that requires us to adapt our 25 bus depots within a very tight time frame. The entire company has been mobilised to succeed with this challenge.”
Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region and of Île-de-France Mobilités says: “My ambition is to provide the region with 100% clean vehicles by 2025 for the dense zones (Paris, towns in the inner suburbs and major regional conglomerations).
“This is a public health issue and a major industrial challenge in line with our desire to make Île-de-France an attractive and ecological metropolis.
“This is why Île-de-France Mobilités is launching with RATP the largest tender for electric buses in Europe. For the outer suburbs Île-de-France Mobilités is currently working on issuing a tender for approximately 450 buses over three years to accompany the improvements to lines implemented since 2016 and continue providing clean buses for other operators (Transdev, Keolis, Car Lacroix, etc.) in the Paris region.”
