Carris Adds 29 Electric Buses to Expand Lisbon Fleet to 103

Lisbon public transport operator Carris has expanded its electric bus fleet with 29 Yutong U12 vehicles, lifting its total to 103 electric buses as part of an investment programme of more than €31 million.

A total of €17.05 million is financed through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), according to Portuguese Secretary of State for Energy Jean Barroca, following the commissioning of 15 electric minibuses in 2026.

Delivery Bottlenecks Open Doors For Chinese Makers

Carris CEO Rui Lopo highlighted the delivery capacity of the European bus industry as a challenge for the fleet transition, as the municipal operator aims to procure and operate up to 150 new buses annually over the long term.

The deployment delivers immediate commercial scale for Yutong in southern Europe, where municipal operators face rigid decarbonisation deadlines. For European fleet operators and component suppliers, Lisbon’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing shows an ongoing mismatch between local transit procurement timetables and domestic assembly throughput.

Charging Network Investment

Fleet expansion is running alongside depot grid upgrades. Carris will spend approximately €2 million on charging infrastructure at bus stops by the end of 2026, followed by more than €10 million scheduled for 2027 to install energy management systems and high-voltage grid connections.

Under the national resilience funding framework, the municipal operator has installed 25 dedicated charging stations since 2022 alongside orders for 29 minibuses and 49 standard electric buses, investing €15 million from its own capital.

Phasing Out Diesel Before 2030

Lisbon has cut its operational diesel fleet from 524 to 379 vehicles, putting zero-emission units on more than half of all scheduled route kilometres. Earlier in 2026, Carris commissioned 15 electric minibuses ahead of the Yutong single-deck batch, following earlier procurements from domestic builder CaetanoBus in 2019 and 2023.

Portugal and the European Commission are preparing a wider procurement programme to tender 1,006 zero-emission buses across 70 municipalities, with Carris targeting a full phase-out of fossil-fuel passenger vehicles by 2030.