BVG opens tender for outsourced lines with electric-only fleet of 106 buses from 2030

BVG plans to require electric buses on Berlin bus routes operated by contracted private companies from 2030.

The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) is extending its electric bus strategy beyond its directly operated fleet, according to a BVG press note dated 11 May 2026. The operator currently runs around 280 electric buses, which BVG describes as one of the largest e-bus fleets in Germany.

BVG tender covers subcontracted bus services from 2030

Under Berlin’s transport contract framework, BVG assigns around eight percent of its bus service volume to private companies. These subcontracted services currently cover around 25 routes and are operated with vehicles in the standard BVG yellow livery, with Berlin’s usual passenger information and ticketing functions.

The services are now being retendered. The new contracts are planned to start at the beginning of 2030 and will have a 15-year duration. From that point, BVG plans electric operation also on the lines served by contracted private operators.

According to details from the tender documentation reported by German trade agency electrive, the contracts have a total value of €721 million and are divided into five lots, with operators allowed to win a maximum of two lots. The tender foresees the deployment of 106 battery-electric buses, including 3 midibuses, 28 twelve-metre buses and 75 articulated buses. Electrive also reports that the vehicles will be required to support both plug-in and pantograph charging, while BVG plans to install opportunity charging infrastructure at terminal stops during the contract period.

BVG also reports further growth in its own electric bus fleet. The first vehicles from a new generation of electric articulated buses by Solaris, ordered in summer 2025, have recently entered service. A total of 70 units are scheduled to be deployed by summer, followed by another 200 vehicles during this year and next year. BVG stresses that the new articulated electric buses include interior design changes that provide six additional seats compared with the previous model.