At the “Climate-Friendly Buses” („Klimafreundliche Busse“ – BUSKON 2026) conference in Berlin, Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder today presented funding certificates to transport operators from across Germany.

Under the current funding call of the Directive on the Promotion of Alternative Drivetrains for Buses in Passenger Transport, 151 companies will receive a total of €417 million. The funding supports the procurement of 1,887 new buses equipped with alternative drivetrain components. These include battery-electric buses (including trolleybuses) and fuel cell buses (including range extenders), as well as the conversion of conventional buses to alternative drivetrains (battery and fuel cell systems) and the associated charging, refuelling and maintenance infrastructure. In earlier funding phases, vehicles powered by biomethane were also included.

Among the public transport operators that have now been granted larger, double-digit Euro fleet conversion packages are Ruhrbahn (52 buses), Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft (45), Rheinbahn (75), BVO Busverkehr Ostwestfalen GmbH (45), BVR Busverkehr Rheinland GmbH (52), Autokraft GmbH (63) and DB Regio Bus Mitte GmbH (65). The individual beneficiaries under the 2025 funding call are listed as follows:

Overall, the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) has supported 334 different companies in 400 projects across six funding calls under the existing directive over the last six years – both in vehicle procurement and in the preparation of feasibility studies. This covers around 5,300 vehicles, including charging, refuelling and maintenance infrastructure, as well as nearly 100 completed studies. Since 2021, approximately €1.5 billion has been approved. Minister Schnieder stated that more than 2,200 electric buses funded by the BMV are already in operation.

The Minister also announced that the BMV intends to publish a new funding directive in spring 2026 and launch a further funding call. Up to €500 million will be made available for 2026.

Since 2021, the BMV has been supporting the market ramp-up of climate-friendly buses through the “Directive on the Promotion of Alternative Drivetrains for Buses in Passenger Transport”. Part of the funding is co-financed under the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP) via the European Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

According to a recently published study by the organisation

, the proportion of city buses procured in Germany in 2025 with locally emission-free drives was 50% (41% battery-electric, 9% fuel cells).

In other European countries, the proportion was significantly higher, at 100% in Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Slovenia and Latvia, for example, and still more than 90% in the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Finland, Lithuania, Belgium and Romania. Additional federal funding can undoubtedly help to change the scenario in Germany.