Bus and coaches retain position as most rapidly decarbonising road segment

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Bus and coaches retain position as most rapidly decarbonising road segment

Published 20 February 2026

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If we want to get people out of cars and into mass transit, we have to look at the "Problem Children" of the sector: Coaches and Minibuses.

The EV Café Team

Watch our four minute broadcast here on YouTube: <https://youtu.be/H8081-3_Twg>

UK registrations of buses, coaches and minibuses rose 10.4% in 2025, with zero-emission uptake jumping 62.2% to 2,523 vehicles, now representing 27.3% of all new public transport registrations.

Scotland led the charge, driven by the ScotZEB scheme, while England still accounts for over 80% of the market overall.

Thanks to ZEBRA and other targeted funding, the UK now sits comfortably as Europe’s largest zero-emission bus market.

Single and double-deck buses drove most of the growth. Minibuses lagged behind, highlighting how harder-to-electrify segments still need focused support.

The SMMT is calling for continued investment, particularly in depot grid upgrades, to maintain momentum.

From the EV Café sofa

“Buses are doing fantastic stuff. Coaches and minibuses are significantly harder, they do much less regular movements, so they’re a different challenge altogether".

-Sam Clarke

Buses are absolutely smashing it. Coaches and minibuses? Much harder.

This matters, because lumping all three together hides where the real challenges are.

Regular routes + depot charging = electrification sweet spot. Irregular duty cycles + dispersed parking = problem child.

But here’s the bigger picture: electrifying buses isn’t just about carbon, it’s about getting single-occupancy drivers out of cars.

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Watch our four minute broadcast here on YouTube: <https://youtu.be/H8081-3_Twg>

Scotland led the charge, driven by the ScotZEB scheme, while England still accounts for over 80% of the market overall.

Thanks to ZEBRA and other targeted funding, the UK now sits comfortably as Europe’s largest zero-emission bus market.

Single and double-deck buses drove most of the growth. Minibuses lagged behind, highlighting how harder-to-electrify segments still need focused support.

The SMMT is calling for continued investment, particularly in depot grid upgrades, to maintain momentum.

From the EV Café sofa

“Buses are doing fantastic stuff. Coaches and minibuses are significantly harder, they do much less regular movements, so they’re a different challenge altogether".

-Sam Clarke

Buses are absolutely smashing it. Coaches and minibuses? Much harder.

This matters, because lumping all three together hides where the real challenges are.

Regular routes + depot charging = electrification sweet spot. Irregular duty cycles + dispersed parking = problem child.

But here’s the bigger picture: electrifying buses isn’t just about carbon, it’s about getting single-occupancy drivers out of cars.