From groundbreaking electric and hydrogen-powered buses to next-gen battery platforms, AI-enabled mobility, and innovative drivetrain technology, UITP 2025 underscored how commercial vehicle OEMs in the public transport space are accelerating toward a zero-emission, data-rich future.

Speaking with T&BB at the UITP event, Karsan CEO Okan Baş said that the decision to launch the e‑ATA LE reflects a strategic move to expand the company’s e-mobility offering and respond to public transport authorities' growing focus on fleet electrification, energy efficiency, and service flexibility.

In the meantime, prototype development and pilot manufacturing continue as the first pilot fleets are scheduled for deployment in Hamburg in August 2025 in partnership with the German transport operator, Hamburger Hochbahn.

At the summit, Iveco announced a strategic partnership with ABB focused on high-power charging infrastructure for bus depots and opportunity charging hubs, aimed at delivering turnkey charging solutions for operators. This agreement complements the roll-out of their E‑Way fleet.

We spoke to representatives from the company who told us that the factory in Katrineholm had been relocated to its HQ in Stockholm, signifying an organisational restructuring. The company also showed us a next-generation CO2 sensor in its vehicle fire suppression system.

Perhaps more significantly for Anadolu Isuzu’s international ambitions, 2025 marked its formal entry into the Saudi Arabian public transport market with a distributor agreement with New East General Trading.

On display at the 2025 UITP Summit in Hamburg were two eAxles, a central drive unit for the midibus segment and a low-floor eAxle with independent suspension for heavy-duty transit bus transport segments.

The company also announced that its European operations are now headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, overseen by Daniel Fräde, Director of Sales, Marketing & After Sales Europe.

While BYD did not disclose a definitive timeline for series production or announce any major fleet contracts, the company confirmed that the B13.b will be built at its European bus manufacturing facility in Komárom, Hungary, with production expected to commence later this year.

Providing 356 kilowatt hours of energy storage, these battery packs carry nickel-manganese-cobalt cells which are packaged at MAN’s facility in Nuremberg.

The ‘RE2b’, like the ‘RD1’ launched earlier this year, combines a manual ramp which folds into the floor of the bus with an electric ramp, but with greater width to make it more accessible for wheelchair passengers.

These tests were designed to see how the vehicle copes in extreme temperatures and to try out the newly developed thermal management system. The engineers were also interested to monitor how the fuel cell system operates at extreme altitudes.