The UK continued to lead Europe on the deployment of zero-emission coaches and buses in the first half of 2023, according to figures compiled by Dutch consultancy Chatrou CME Solutions for those vehicles with a GVW of over 8,000kg .
524 battery-electric and 28 hydrogen fuel cell-electric examples were registered here during that period. That placed the UK far above any other nation in the EU27, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, albeit with the caveat that data for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia was unavailable.
In total, the 26 countries analysed saw 2,567 battery-electric registrations in H1. The UK was thus clear leader in that segment, accounting for around one in five of those. In second place was Norway with 346 and in third Germany with 297. That position echoes the return seen for the full year of 2022, where the UK again led the way in battery-electric with 685 registrations.
In addition, the UK also saw the largest number of battery-electric registrations between 2012 and the close of Q2 2023, at 2,359. In second place in that metric was Germany with 2,106. France was in third with 1,739.
Illustrating the ongoing gap in zero-emission between battery- and hydrogen fuel cell-electric, the 109 registrations of hydrogen buses in the UK between 2012 and Q2 2023 put it in second place among the 26 nations noted. Over that multi-year period, Germany led on hydrogen, with 167 registrations.
Year-on-year growth of heavy battery-electric coach and bus registrations in the 26 nations for which up-to-date data is available has also been illustrated by the Chatrou figures.
H1 2023’s 2,567 was a 45.2% rise from the 1,768 such registrations in the same period in 2022, and it was an 85.3% jump from the 1,385 over the first six months of 2021.
While hydrogen fuel cell-electric numbers for the 26 countries are much lower than battery-electric, the overall total for H1 2023 grew at a faster rate from 2022 than battery-electric. The 96 registered during the first six month of this year represented an 84.6% increase from the 52 during the same period in 2022.
Data is obtained by Chatrou CME Solutions from the relevant authority in each country. Overall numbers regardless of powertrain show significant growth across all sectors. In the 26 European nations for which data to the end of the first half of 2023 is available, it compares as follows to the same period in 2022:
- The city bus segment rose to 6,773 registrations from 6,019
- The intercity bus market grew to 3,978 from 3,730
- The coach market increased to 3,102 from 2,099, although that is still well down from the first half of 2019.
For vehicle manufacturers, the first half of 2023 saw Solaris lead the way on battery-electric in the 26 nations examined, with 421 registrations. MAN was second with 260 and the BYD Alexander Dennis partnership completed the top three with 223. BYD in its own right was in fourth, with 203, while Yutong was in fifth, with 200.
For the longer-term horizon between 2012 and the end of Q2 2023, Solaris again led in battery-electric. It recorded 1,884 registrations. Behind that was BYD as a standalone OEM with 1,613, and the BYD Alexander Dennis partnership with 1,491.
The first half of 2023 saw Caetano lead hydrogen fuel cell-electric bus registrations in the 26 nations analysed, with 28. Van Hool was close behind with 26 and Wrightbus completed the top three with 15.
