Charging park for electric buses from Stadtwerke Tübingen

14.04.2026

Source: E & M powernews

Stadtwerke Tübingen is building a new feeding station for the hungry batteries of its bus fleet. Up to 21 electric buses will be able to charge their batteries in a new area.

The fleet of electric buses owned by Stadtwerke Tübingen is growing. A charging park for the vehicles is now being built so that the utility can cover its electricity requirements. Preparations for the construction work have begun.

The subsidiary "TüBus" is responsible for local public transport within Stadtwerke Tübingen. Up to 21 charging stations for electric buses are to be built on the site of a former car dealership. The old company buildings will have to make way for the Tübus plans in the coming weeks.

At the time, the municipal utilities wanted to spend a total of around 7 million euros on the first expansion stage of the charging infrastructure, 2.5 million euros of which came from the public purse. The two-stage conversion of the bus fleet to battery drives will cost 20 million euros.

Stadtwerke will also be purchasing additional e-buses this year and next. These are 18 articulated buses, nine of which will come to Tübingen in 2026. Two more solo buses are planned for 2027. This will increase the e-fleet to 47 vehicles. This would increase the proportion of climate-friendly buses to around 60 percent, according to Stadtwerke.

At the end of 2025, every fourth bus in Tübingen would have an electric drive. Even with this proportion, the company describes itself as a pioneer in the electrification of buses, as the average nationwide is around 10 percent.

However, public transport is not a cash cow in Tübingen either. Last year, the supervisory board of the municipal utilities had already put the brakes on spending. Tübus aims to save 1 million euros per year by reducing the number of journeys. The service initially shrank by 5 percent as a result.

Author: Volker Stephan