The public transport operator of the southern Italian metropolis of Naples introduced its first battery-electric buses into service in May last year, while the city administration simultaneously announced a procurement programme for approximately 250 vehicles over a two-year period. The investments are being financed through Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which forms part of the European Union’s NextGenerationEU recovery programme. A total of €180 million has been allocated, of which around €145 million is earmarked for vehicle procurement and €35 million for the development of charging infrastructure at the operator’s depots.
ANM (Azienda Napoletana Mobilità S.p.A.) is procuring vehicles from several manufacturers in order to meet a range of operational requirements and passenger transport needs. The first 22 vehicles, which entered service in May 2025, were supplied by Higer, BYD and Iveco. A further 60 battery-electric buses are scheduled to enter service by the end of 2026, with deliveries already under way.
BYD has so far secured the largest share of the contracts, supplying its 10.8-metre B11 model as well as the first 12.2-metre B12.b buses equipped with blade batteries. The Low Entry K9UD model also forms part of the order, together with B18s articulated buses.
Iveco is supplying the 9.5-metre version of its E-WAY model. The fleet also includes several Higer Azure 7 buses measuring approximately 7 metres in length, the 8-metre GTZ6859BEVB from the Chinese manufacturer Granton, and Karsan’s e-ATAK model.
Incidentally, electrically operated buses have a long tradition in Naples. Trolleybuses have been operating in the city since 1940 and currently serve the three urban routes 201, 202 and 204, as well as suburban route 254R to Portici. Of the original fleet of 87 AnsaldoBreda F19 trolleybuses with diesel auxiliary engines, built in 2001, some 30 remain operational, while a further 20 are retained as a source of spare parts. They are not used during the hot summer months as they are not equipped with air conditioning, and because then sufficient battery-electric buses, which normally operate on other routes, are available due to the lower level of passenger demand.
A tender for new battery trolleybuses is planned for next year in order to make more intensive use of the well-maintained overhead wiring network, for example on routes that operate only partially beneath existing overhead lines. On these sections, battery trolleybuses can recharge their traction batteries from the overhead wires without extending journey times before continuing over unwired sections in battery mode.
The Naples public transport operator currently has a fleet of approximately 400 buses.
A view from the past:
