Electric buses made by China’s BYD and Yutong are increasingly popular in Germany and neighboring countries, despite misgivings in Europe about ceding infrastructure control to Chinese companies.
Transportation companies in Germany, Belgium, and Austria are adding China-made electric buses to their fleets, with operators saying they are cheaper and better made.
“The price is good, but quality, safety, and reliability were central to the procurement decision,” said Horst Bottenschein, CEO of passenger bus company Bottenschein Reisen. The business expects delivery of seven BYD buses in June after the first began service last September in Laupheim, a town in Germany’s southwest.
Bottenschein, who handles procurement for several public transport companies in the region, was invited to BYD’s manufacturing plant in Shenzhen last year. He said BYD buses, which can operate eight-hour shifts once fully charged, were “significantly cheaper” than European makes. Other operators suggested BYD buses were about EUR 100,000 (or about USD 117,000) cheaper than those of Germany’s MAN or Daimler Buses that usually go for about EUR 600,000 (USD 702,000) each.
Apart from price, BYD’s design was also more practical.
“Unlike buses from domestic manufacturers that carry the batteries on the roof and in the rear, BYD placed [three of its five] batteries under the floors, which provides the driver with a safer center of gravity, and BYD’s batteries are less prone to catching fire in the event of accident,” Bottenschein said.
BYD claims that its lithium iron phosphate “blade” batteries are less susceptible to catching fire even when severely damaged. In terms of servicing repairs, BYD committed to partnering with a contract workshop near Laupheim.
Germany’s transportation companies are under pressure to overhaul their fleets as diesel buses no longer will be allowed to operate in cities from 2030, barring extenuating circumstances.
Though European-made buses remain the norm, China-manufactured counterparts took 21% of the market in 2024, with BYD and Yutong accounting for most of the sales, according to consulting firm McKinsey. Brand awareness was also high, with half of the operators familiar with leading Chinese bus or coach names.
A manager of a public transport company in Germany’s western state of Rhineland-Palatinate said a test of Yutong’s buses went well, suggesting that the Chinese company was likely to win an upcoming tender.
“Yutong was identified as the clear favorite, performing significantly better in terms of perceived quality, driving performance and power consumption,” said the manager, who requested anonymity.
Though the test was conducted in a 3-year-old bus that served Warsaw and had clocked over 100,000 kilometers, the vehicle was still in good shape and its software was “especially convincing,” he said. By this, the manager meant Yutong’s software let his company implement integrated planning, dispatching, telematics and ticketing systems much faster than any software he had used.
In Mechelen in nearby Belgium, a spokesperson for public transport operator De Lijn told Nikkei that the company had awarded BYD a contract for up to 500 electric buses. In June, De Lijn launched its first BYD electric buses in the Antwerp region.
“Lifecycle cost was the main point in that final selection, together with guarantees, including on the battery packs, and electricity consumption,” the spokesperson said, adding that teething issues were addressed swiftly by BYD Europe’s service teams.
Under De Lijn’s contract terms, the buses must be assembled at BYD’s facility in the Hungarian city of Komarom to meet European Union guidelines on value creation on the continent. BYD plans to construct its second bus assembly plant there to triple production capacity to 1,250 electric buses and trucks annually.
But in the Austrian city of Salzburg, politicians are up in arms over a EUR 10 million (USD 11.7 million) green transition subsidy given to Yutong after public transport operator Albus chose the company to provide 34 electric buses, particularly given worries about espionage and strategic dependencies.
In October, a study by Oslo public transport authority Ruter showed that Yutong buses have a permanent data connection to China, as their software updates are downloaded from the country. This link not only opens the possibility of manipulation by the Chinese state, but also theoretically allows data transmission back to China, including information about military bases and critical infrastructure, and even spying on commuters.
“The Ruter findings came after Albus made the deal with Yutong, so we will be submitting a motion at the Salzburg state parliament’s upcoming meeting on Feb. 4 demanding that the protection of critical infrastructure be taken into account in public tenders and funding,” said Simon Heilig-Hofbauer, deputy parliamentary group leader for the Greens Salzburg.
“My goal is to initiate a debate about these dependencies and the associated risks to our critical infrastructure, and to raise awareness of these issues among political leaders and public administrations,” he said.
These misgivings are echoed in Berlin. Roderich Kiesewetter, a retired high-ranking officer in Germany’s armed forces and lawmaker for the conservative Christian Democratic Union party, told Nikkei that public transport should be subject to stringent derisking requirements.
In December, German finance minister Lars Klingbeil sharply criticized state-controlled railway company Deutsche Bahn for ordering 200 electric intercity buses from BYD. Klingbeil called for “healthy location patriotism” to award contracts to German or European manufacturers.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.