Transport for London’s recent milestone of 3,000 zero-emission buses (with the vast majority being battery-electric models) is the most evident sign yet that electric bus adoption in the UK is moving from the pilot phase to the mainstream phase. Despite London’s strong growth over many years now, with no diesel buses purchased in the capital since 2021, London is no longer alone. Areas such as Greater Manchester and the West of England are consistently placing major electric bus orders of their own, and the question surrounding depot infrastructure is becoming just as important as getting the vehicles on the road.
Transport for Greater Manchester, for example, has committed to converting its entire ‘Bee’ bus fleet to fully electric models by 2030. It has placed two orders with Wrightbus this year alone – 55 buses in March and a further 125 in May, bringing its total commitment to the Ballymena manufacturer to 293 vehicles for the Bee Network. Around 350 electric buses are expected to be operating within the network by the end of 2026, representing around 20% of its fleet.
The West of England, where bus services are largely operated by First Bus, is another region seeing strong electric bus growth. It’s not just big cities in the region such as Bristol either – passengers in smaller towns and cities such as Weston-super-Mare and Bath are also benefitting from electric buses (including the conversion of existing diesel bus bodies to electric). With this growth, First Bus estimates that half of its West of England bus fleet will be electric by the end of 2026 – whilst nationally, all its buses will be electric by 2035.
The energy grid dimension also matters to operators making the switch. An electric bus depot drawing significant power overnight is a meaningful grid asset, or liability, depending on how the operator manages it. Smart charging and vehicle-to-grid capability for buses remain in the early-stage, but the direction of travel is clear, and operators who invest in intelligent infrastructure now are better positioned for the future.
However, as electric buses continue to be assigned to bus routes across urban areas, older diesel buses are being given another lease of life in rural and inter-urban services where uptake of electric buses has been slower. These more rural bus routes present a different set of challenges, longer route distances, more limited grid capacity at depots, and weaker passenger revenue – all of which make the argument for switching to an electric bus harder. The Department for Transport has recognised this, reserving £25 million within the ZEBRA 2 funding scheme for adoption of zero-emission buses in rural areas. Clearly, however, there’s still more work to be done to ensure electric bus adoption rises equally all across the UK.
