Bus fleet electrification: A comprehensive review of charging, operations, planning and sustainability

Source abstract

Battery Electric Buses (BEBs) are increasingly adopted by Local PublicTransit (LPT) companies as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissionsand support sustainable mobility transitions. However, BEB deployment in-troduces new challenges related to charging infrastructures, operational con-straints, investment decisions and long-term planning. This paper presentsan up-to-date review of more than 100 studies published between 2019 and2025 on bus fleet electrification. The analysis identifies four major researchdirections Charging Infrastructure and Methods, Bus Fleet Operations, Elec-trification Planning, and Sustainability, highlighting their interdependenciesand methodological trends. Across these works, several recurring themesemerge, including the central role of optimized charging strategies on totalcost of ownership, the increasing coupling between fleet scheduling and en-ergy management, and the need for integrated planning models that jointlyconsider infrastructure, battery sizing, and operations. The review also re-veals persistent gaps related to uncertainty modeling, scalability for largetransport networks, and careful consideration of battery degradation. Fi-nally, a functional framework is proposed to synthesize how current researchcontributions map onto the practical decision layers faced by LPT operators.This work provides a consolidated foundation for future studies and supportspractitioners in navigating the complexities of large-scale BEB deployment.