German environmental aid criticizes the low proportion of electric buses in major German cities

The German Environmental Aid (DUH) is calling on German cities to make greater use of electric buses. In a comparison of the 40 largest cities in Germany, only in Mannheim, Freiburg and Karlsruhe did more than half of the buses run on battery electrics, the DUH said. The deadline for the survey was December 31, 2025. According to the organization, there is some catching up to do in four major cities examined in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, among others.

In the DUH list, Wiesbaden is in 21st place, Frankfurt in 23rd place, Mainz in 25th place and Kassel in 26th place. According to Umwelthilfe, all cities are therefore in a red zone, which signals a clear need for action. According to the information, the assessment takes into account both the current proportion of battery-electric buses in the fleet and the planned new purchases.

Almost 80 percent of buses in Germany run on diesel

According to DUH, the electric bus quota is 40.2 percent in Wiesbaden, 18.1 percent in Frankfurt, 14.8 percent in Mainz and 14.0 percent in Kassel. The quota of buses with combustion engines in new purchases was also taken into account in the ranking. Saarland does not appear in the list.

Overall, according to the information, almost 80 percent of the buses in the major cities surveyed still run on diesel engines. Almost half of the cities want to buy new combustion buses between 2026 and 2030.