Press releases

2021/03/24

The CAF Group company Solaris believes that European funds present an opportunity for Spain to mirror our success in sustainable transport in Europe and meet established targets.

· Only 6% of buses in Spain are zero emission type which is far below the figures for the rest of Europe: investment of more than €600 million would be required until 2025 to meet established targets.
· European funds are an opportunity to meet European regulations which set a 65% target for public procurement of environmentally friendly buses by 2030.
· Buses are crucial in reducing emissions: 65,000 buses transport 60 million passengers each month, which is twice the number of people who use private vehicles.

Solaris presented its ACELERAR 2025 proposal to the authorities to streamline efforts to decarbonize public transport in Spain and comply with compulsory sustainability criteria. During its online 25th anniversary celebration, the company pointed out that Spain is still trailing behind other European countries in terms of percentages of electric or hydrogen buses, despite the fact that these vehicles play a crucial role in reducing emissions. Only 6% of all these vehicles are zero emission at present. Major European cities are adopting extensive use of zero emission buses, with many striving to have 100% zero?emission buses in operation by 2030. These cities include: Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Paris.

Solaris estimates that more than €600 million will need to be invested in clean buses andcharging infrastructures until 2025 and sees European funds as a unique opportunity to bring mass transport to the forefront when it comes to sustainability strategy. There are almost 30 million private vehicles in Spain, compared to only 65,000 licensed buses. Nevertheless, the company pointed out that this small number of buses still transports approximately 60 million passengers each month; this figure is twice that of those people who use private vehicles and show how important buses are when it comes to reducing emissions.

Leaders in Europe: why we need to invest in green transport at home 

The EU Sustainable Mobility Directive has set minimum public procurement targets for new environmentally friendly urban buses: 45% by 2025 and 65% by 2030. Solaris wants Spain to enjoy the same success its technology has experienced in other European countries, such as Germany, Poland and Italy. We should point out that this subsidiary of the CAF Group ended last year as the leading urban electric bus manufacturer in Europe, with a 20% market share.

The intention is to expand the current fleet of buses substantially over the coming years. Spain is already making headway here, something that has been evidenced with the recent call for transforming mobility in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants raised by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, as part of a scheme to help meet the planned targets.

The CAF Group has already supplied more than 1,000 electric buses in Europe, in over 18 different countries and for more than 100 customers, having amassed over 35 million kilometres of experience, something which translates into extremely reliable solutions. In terms of hydrogen, the Group embarked on this journey in 2014 when it supplied its first hydrogen units in Hamburg and Riga. The current backlog includes more than 100 hydrogen vehicles, all of which will soon be operating in various European cities. This last technology provides environmentally friendly vehicles with greater range, and has recently reached Spain with the first Solaris hydrogen bus having been rolled out for testing in Getafe. The company believes that European funding will serve as an opportunity to develop a financing roadmap for Spain to purchase electric and hydrogen buses and the associated charging infrastructure.

Javier Calleja the Solaris CEO states: "Our zero emission buses are currently leading the way in Europe with circa 20% of the market share. Spain is lagging behind the forefront countries in terms of making a transition to sustainable transport in the EU. Accordingly, this transition must be ramped up so as to meet the targets that have been set. We should point out that Spain has the fourth largest economy within the EU, but it is in 10th place when it comes to electric mobility and 9th place in terms of its market share regarding new electric buses. As established by the European regulations themselves, financial support from Spanish organisations will be fundamental in making the transition to zero emissions between now and 2030. European funds are a perfect opportunity and in many ways a necessity to meet the legal sustainability targets and to guarantee that our technology is just as successful at home as it is abroad".

During the speech, Solaris pointed out that the Climate Change and Energy Transition Act demands that all countries reduce overall emissions by 20% by 2030. Clean energy buses play an important role in the strategy designed towards reducing emissions in cities, as evidenced by the legislative requirement for cities with over 50,000 inhabitants to establish compulsory low emission zones by 2023.