BMV promotes a further 1,500 electric buses

The Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) is continuing to promote buses with climate-friendly drive systems and plans to support the procurement of at least 1,500 more electric buses. The new „Directive on the promotion of alternative drive systems for buses in passenger transport“ was published in the Federal Gazette on May 6, 2026. The associated new funding call will start on May 21, 2026 and funding outlines can be submitted from May 26, 2026.

Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder: „We have already invested around 1.5 billion euros in more than 5,300 climate-friendly buses. We are continuing along this successful path: with the budget available in 2026 alone, we want to put another 1,500 electric buses into operation across the board. This will strengthen local public transport, boost the market ramp-up of innovative drive technologies and pave the way for climate-friendly mobility.“

With the new funding guideline, the BMV continues to support transport companies and users in the bus industry in converting their fleets to emission-free buses with battery or fuel cell drives. The aim is to accelerate the ramp-up of climate-friendly buses, increase market penetration and also create market incentives in the intercity, long-distance and coach segment. The funding thus makes a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in passenger transport and supports the national climate protection targets.

The new call for funding is based on the 2026 federal budget, which once again provides funding for alternative drive systems in passenger transport. Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder had already announced the new funding at the BMV's „climate-friendly buses“ conference in February 2026.

Submission of sketches possible from May 26, 2026
Project outlines can be from May 26, 2026 via the easy-Online funding portal be submitted. The sketch phase is eight weeks; The submission deadline is July 21, 2026.

What is supported?
Funding is provided for the purchase or conversion of buses with alternative drive systems for passenger transport as well as the necessary charging and refueling infrastructure:

• Battery buses (including battery trolleybuses)
• Fuel cell buses (including battery buses with fuel cells as range extenders)
• Conversion of conventional buses to battery or fuel cell drive

To ensure efficient and effective use of the funding, it will be distributed across various funding areas on a technology-specific basis, taking into account the degree of electrification and application contexts. In addition to an „activation program“, which follows the previous funding procedure, a „scaling program“ is being introduced for the first time. This is aimed at companies that have already electrified a significant proportion of their bus fleet and are planning a further vehicle ramp-up. Within the funding pillars, projects are selected in a competitive process, taking into account the environmental contribution and the efficiency of the use of funding. In addition, the implementation perspective and the deployment and energy concept are used for evaluation.

Balance of funding to date
Since the introduction of the first directive in 2021, the procurement of more than 5,300 buses has been approved for around 330 transport companies, of which more than 2,300 vehicles are already in use. Over their useful life, these buses potentially avoid over four million tons of CO₂. An overview of the funding recipients is available at https://www.bmv.de/SharedDocs/DE/Anlage/K/presse/zuwendungsempfaenger-alle-foerderaufrufe-und-schwerpunkte.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

The funding is implemented by NOW GmbH and Project Management Jülich (PtJ). Parts of the funding to date have been co-financed as part of the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP) via the European Recovery and Resilience Facility (ARF).

Info event and further information
Accompanying the call for funding, an event will be held on May 28, 2026 at 1:00 pm. Online‑Information event will take place. Please register here to.

Further information:

• Link to the Funding guideline
• Documents for the Call for funding with the project sponsor