Last year, federal funding for buses with alternative drive systems was suspended for the time being, which led to considerable debate. State funds were able to help to some extent in promoting the expansion of electric mobility, which is still more expensive than combustion engine drive systems. Federal funding from Berlin is now available again, albeit subject to approval at the political level.
The Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) now wants to use a new call for funding to continue supporting transport companies in Germany in converting their bus fleets to climate-friendly battery or fuel cell drives. The measure is a key project from the CDU/CSU/SPD coalition agreement.
Transport companies and other users in the bus industry are eligible for funding. Project outlines for planned procurements or conversions can be submitted via the Portal easy-Online until 31 August 2025.
Funding is available for:
- Battery electric buses (including trolleybuses)
- Fuel cell buses (including range extenders)
- Conversion of conventional buses to alternative drive systems (battery and fuel cell drives)
- Charging, refuelling and maintenance infrastructure
Funding will be awarded through a competitive process. The project outlines submitted will be reviewed based on their CO₂ avoidance, application contexts, electrification rates and funding requirements. As mentioned, the call for proposals is based on the government’s draft federal budget for 2025 and is subject to the planned funds being approved in the parliamentary process. The projects will be approved after the Federal Budget Act comes into force in autumn 2025.
Since the introduction of the guideline on ‘Promoting alternative drive systems for buses in passenger transport’ in 2021, the procurement of around 3,500 buses has been approved, of which over 1,000 vehicles are in service. Implementation is being carried out by NOW GmbH and Project Management Jülich (PtJ). Parts of the funding are co-financed by the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP) via the European Recovery and Resilience Facility (ARF).
(Info: NOW GmbH)
