Why Public Transport Matters for Decarbonization

Transport accounts for nearly a quarter of global CO₂ emissions. In many developed countries, it’s the single largest part of an individual’s carbon footprint. Yet when we talk about cleaner mobility, the focus often stays on electric cars.

The real revolution is happening elsewhere: public transport — especially electric city buses.
They’re the transport of the future, capable of cutting emissions by up to two-thirds per passenger-kilometer compared to private cars.

The numbers speak for themselves.

There are already 635,000 electric buses in operation worldwide (2024), with annual sales growing by 30%. More than 42% of new city bus registrations are now electric, and by 2032, the global fleet is expected to surpass 1 million e-buses.

Switching from diesel to electric buses isn’t just a technological step - it’s a public-health, climate, and circular-economy transformation. Diesel fleets pump nitrogen oxides and fine particles into crowded city centers, contributing to asthma, heart disease, and premature deaths.

Electric buses not only eliminate tailpipe pollution but also support the EU Battery Regulation’s vision of a closed-loop battery ecosystem. Equipped with large battery packs, they can later serve in second-life applications from stationary storage to grid stabilization, extending the lifespan of lithium, nickel, and cobalt while ensuring full traceability under the EU Battery Regulation.

To explore how the industry is preparing for this shift, we spoke with TEMSA, one of Europe’s leading electric-bus manufacturers.

What’s Next for E-buses?

In Europe, TEMSA exports electric buses to such countries as Sweden, Lithuania, France. They are in the top-three in France’s coach/intercity market, with 6,000 vehicles on French roads in 2024, and notable growth in electric intercity models.

Since 2010, TEMSA’s electric vehicle division monitors industry trends and takes strategic steps to shape the future of electrification - with the ambitious goal of having over 50% of its sales come from electric buses by 2030.

The key areas of innovation include:

Battery Management Systems (BMS) and Charging

BMS is a significant innovation for TEMSA, as the company not only develops battery management systems for its electric buses but also supplies them to other industries. TEMSA has its own software team for the battery management side.

“We don’t just build a single BMS — we develop multiple types, including smaller systems for energy storage and marine applications. We’re even experimenting with sodium-ion cells right now.” - says Burak Onur, Technology manager, TEMSA.

👉  Watch the video about TEMSA’s innovations here:

“In the old times, and actually like 10 years ago, the most important part was the range of the battery. For example, the more battery you put on the vehicle, it's better because they are asking for a range. But right now it's changing.” says Burak Onur.

“We are working on the new chemistries and new battery management systems that are speeding up the balancing process. Especially on the artificial intelligence side, it's very important to collect all the data from the cells and try to predict what is going to happen in the future. If this cell is going to malfunction, if this cell is going to be a problem in the future, we are trying to predict this.” - says Burak Onur.

New Chemistries

Sodium-ion batteries are promising because sodium is abundant, inexpensive, and widely available, unlike lithium, which is concentrated in a few regions and subject to supply chain risks. They also have a lower environmental impact, especially when using materials like iron or manganese instead of cobalt or nickel. While their energy density is currently lower than that of high-end lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion cells perform well in cold temperatures and are suitable for applications like stationary storage and low-range electric vehicles.

Battery Data Transparency and Battery Passports

According to the EU Battery Regulation, from 2027 and on, each battery placed on the EU market must have a Digital Battery Passport (DBP).

TEMSA is among the first e-bus manufacturers piloting the Digital Battery Passport in collaboration with Minespider.

👉 Learn how TEMSA pilots the Battery Passport with Minespider.

“We always start things early, because when you start things early then you have time to make it perfect. So even if it’s not yet required by regulation, we need to start early... because the longer you work on it the more you can correct it and it can be a better product that you can supply for the customers.” - Burak Onur.

The Battery Passport should include extensive data about the battery, including information from cathode and anode suppliers, and raw material providers. Gathering this data can be challenging and time-consuming.

“At the moment there is a battery passport regulation and step by step we are trying to build this structure. First, we started with state of health and state of charge calculations in the battery pack. Right now, we are doing all the calculations inside the battery pack and we can deliver it to the main server or we can download it from the pack. “- Burak Onur.

“This is going to take some time because not everybody is ready for this. While you're supplying the battery packs, you're not supplying from one producer. Maybe this battery pack cell maker is getting the cells from somewhere else, or supplying the cathode from another supplier, and the separator is coming from somewhere else. So you need to track all this information."- adds the expert.

Continuous Innovations

TEMSA’s journey toward electrification required developing components that didn’t yet exist for vehicles, driving the company to innovate and collaborate with new suppliers from scratch.

“By the time we started the electric bus, for example, there were no air compressor brands that were running with the electric. So we started using air compressors for industrial usage and said that, ‘okay this is not running for the bus’ so we have to do something, and we need to build an air compressor for the bus. Then we found another manufacturer that is doing that. So in that way we learned a lot of things.” - Burak Onur.

Building Smarter, Cleaner Cities

What’s next?

As mentioned, the company is pursuing an ambitious goal: to have at least 50% of its sales come from electric buses by 2030. Burak believes that EVs will become increasingly affordable, helping us move toward a more sustainable and electrified future.

“At the moment, the electric vehicle business is a costly business because of the batteries. But right now the battery prices are getting lower. So we believe that after some period of time the battery bus and the diesel bus will be selling at the same price”. - says Burak Onur.

Electric buses are more than just vehicles — they are key enablers of circular mobility. Their batteries will live multiple lives, their data will power transparency, and their impact will extend far beyond city streets.

As European regulation pushes for full lifecycle accountability, companies like TEMSA are showing what the next generation of urban transport can look like: quiet, clean, traceable, and truly circular.

‍Electric buses are just the beginning. Dive deeper into how innovators across the mobility sector are making batteries smarter, traceable, and truly circular. Explore our case studies and Battery Passport solutions.