Only 1% of world’s battery-powered buses will be outside of China by 2025 according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Why is the majority of the latest round of funding being channelled into the electric-vehicle market?
Electric buses remain more expensive upfront than diesel, CNG or biomethane, and estimates are that they are currently twice as expensive.
Battery prices remain high despite assurances that prices will fall; it will take another seven years for battery prices to decline to the point that will make the upfront costs of electric-bus models as competitive as those running on alternative fuels.
Charging time can take up to 12 hours per bus depending on the size of the battery and speed of the charging point; filling the latest model of the biogas bus takes no longer than the filling of a regular diesel bus.
David Rix, MD, says: “Consider the ‘well-to-wheel’ model and evaluate alternative fuels such as biomethane as a solution to truly satisfy the decarbonisation targets outlined in the DfT’s RTFO update published in 2018.”
