# Transportation Deployment Casebook/2025/Battery Electric Bus

Qualitative Analysis
The Battery Electric Bus, as known as the Zero Emission Buses, is a bus that uses rechargeable batteries which powered the electric motors that drives the buses, just like many electric vehicles (EV) they can be charged to a plug or a charging station. Unlike buses that are propelled by an Internal Combustion engine like diesel engines, battery electric buses tend to be much quieter than their diesel counterparts which provides a smoother ride and much comfortable passenger experience. Battery electric buses produce zero emission due to the absence of an internal combustion engine which helps in reducing air pollution which is in line with sustainability where it can be generated through wind and solar which reduces the reliance on fossil fuel. Lastly, bus operators can benefit from low operating cost with battery electric buses as they require less maintenance and lower fuel cost than their diesel counterparts. Although the modern form of battery electric buses has its roots since 1907 in London by the London Electrobus company. As of 2023, a total of 50000 battery electric buses were being sold worldwide which held a 4% percent share in the global bus market where its global market is expected to reach 670k units by 2027.
History
Battery Electric Buses Origins
Although the earlier forms of battery electric public transit vehicle existed in 1881 in Paris in the form of the “Trouvé Tricycle” by Gustave Trouvé as an evolution to the horse drawn carriages and tricycle. However, the first commercial adoption of electric buses was made available in London in 1907 by the London Electrobus Company (LEC) with a fleet of 20 electric buses on two routes, these buses can travel up to 60km on their batteries which is equivalent to a journey between Victoria and Liverpool Street for four times. After a few years of commercial operation, the company was engulfed in a series of scandals, mismanagements and most of its funds were spent on worthless patents which tarnished its reputation. The service seen a downward trend in 1909 and a year later the company London Electrobus Company went into liquidation where 8 of these buses were sold to Brighton, Hove and Preston United Omnibus Co and the remainders were being scrapped. However, these buses continued in operation up for several years up till 1917 where they are fully phased out due to lack of spare parts.
Since then, Diesel Internal Combustion Engines remains the mainstream propulsion for commuter buses followed by Compressed Natural Gas and Biofuel along with some trolley buses. Fast forward to the 1970s, MAN Truck & Bus showcases its first electric bus in Munich, Germany in 1970. 2 years later in 1972, San Francisco trialled its first battery electric bus on the 39 Coit route up Telegraph Hill. Although several trails of such buses were made between the 1980s up to the 2000s. It was not only up to the turn of the 2010s that mass production and adoption of such vehicle technology in commuter buses took off with Seoul and Shanghai being amongst the first city to operate battery electric buses for the Nanshan shuttle and at the Shanghai 2010 Expo where 1500 of these buses from serving a as shuttle service at the Expo. However, the first mass produced battery electric buses would be the BYD K series made by China’s BYD Auto was unveiled in 30 September 2010 at Changsha, China with Shenzhen being the first city to deploy battery electric buses for commercial operation.