Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the comparative costs, reliability and operational performance of hydrogen fuel-cell buses compared with battery-electric buses; what analysis has been undertaken of hydrogen fuel supply risks and infrastructure costs; and what role the Government expects each technology to play in the future decarbonisation of bus fleets.

Buses are procured directly by bus operators or local transport authorities (LTAs) who would make an assessment on the type of zero emission bus (ZEB) to purchase and deploy. The Government’s approach to ZEB competitions has been technology neutral. LTAs have been able to apply for funding for both battery electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses.

However, in ZEBRA 2, LTAs and bus operators demonstrated a clear preference for battery electric buses, which they have calculated are significantly more cost-effective than hydrogen at this time.