Electric Bus Market Growth and Potential Challenges

In a recent blog post, we discussed three trends shaping electric vehicle manufacturing. However, the automotive market isn’t the only transportation sector focusing on electric. In fact, electric buses have been experiencing a growth rate of greater than 100% since 2013, according to Mckinsey & Company.

Find out why electric buses are the fastest growing part of the electric vehicle market and challenges this poses for manufacturers.

Why Electric Buses are the Fastest Growing Sector:

From passengers to city governments, today’s society is pushing for buses that run on clean technology. Therefore, electric buses become increasingly more attractive as populations worldwide place rising emphasis on:

• Reducing air pollution
• Decreasing noise
• Mitigating environmental dangers

Additionally, as more cities create a long-term vision of becoming emission-free, electric buses are an important first step in achieving this goal. Furthermore, these buses help set up the transition for autonomous buses going forward.

Potential Challenges Electric Buses Pose:

However, implementing electric buses can pose challenges. While larger cities may be better equipped to more easily handle electric buses than others, they all will need new infrastructure. This includes:

• Charging stations and redesigned bus depots
• IT systems for monitoring electric bus operations

Additionally, electric buses bring technological uncertainty and high upfront costs. This can pose certain hurdles for some cities and can cause hesitation in terms of usage.

Therefore, it will be especially important for electric bus manufacturers to help address these potential issues ahead of time. For example, this can include:

• Partnering with charging station providers to deliver a complete e-bus solution
• Offering packages that account for the system’s service and maintenance

For more information on the electric bus market, view this McKinsey & Company article.

You can also view this relevant blog post below:

• How Megatrends are Shaping the Bus Manufacturing Process