Brussels is the Belgian region with the firmest electric-bus deadline. STIB-MIVB, the public operator, had 93 battery-electric buses in service at the end of 2025 (11 % of about 850 buses), reaches just over 140 during 2026, is tendering up to 300 standard electric buses for delivery in 2028–2029, and must run a fully electric fleet by the end of 2035. The deadline is not only a plan: from 1 January 2036 the Brussels low-emission zone bans every diesel city bus. This page is shorter than the Flanders page, because the site starts with Flanders; what is here comes from STIB’s own reports and the Region’s LEZ calendar, with the gaps listed at the end.
The fleet today
| Year | Buses | Battery-electric | Diesel-hybrid | Diesel | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 846 | 37 | 400 | 409 | RTBF, 28 Aug 2024 |
| 2025 | about 850 | 93 | 400 | 357 | Stibstories, 26 Aug 2025 |
| 2026 (planned) | — | just over 140 | — | — | electrive, 10 Mar 2026 |
The 93 electric buses at the end of 2025 were 7 Solaris Urbino 8.9 LE minibuses, 5 Bluebus standard buses, 25 Solaris Urbino 18 articulated buses and 56 Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G articulated buses. The electric share rose from 4 % in 2024 to 11 % in 2025 (STIB-MIVB Activity Report 2025). The 400 hybrids are diesel buses with an electric assist and are not counted as electric anywhere on this site. By March 2026 the electric fleet had driven more than 8 million km (Sustainable Bus, 11 Mar 2026).
Electric bus orders and models
| Bus | Length | Number | Ordered | In service | Charging |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solaris Urbino 8.9 LE electric | 8.9 m | 7 | 2017 | June 2018, line 33 | Depot |
| Bluebus (Bolloré) 12 m | 12 m | 5 | 2018 | October 2018, line 13 | Depot |
| Solaris Urbino 18 electric | 18 m | 25 | December 2017, over EUR 21 million | 2019, line 64 | Depot pantographs + 2 on-street masts |
| Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G | 18 m | 70 (56 + 14) | March 2023, about EUR 60 million | January 2025 on line 53; 56 in 2025, last 14 in 2026 | Pantograph at terminus masts + depot |
| Mercedes-Benz eCitaro | 12 m | 36 (framework up to 80) | November 2023 | January–March 2026 on lines 47, 56, 58, 83 | Depot only (Marly) |
| Standard e-buses, maker not yet chosen | 12 m | up to 300 | Specification published December 2025; bids awaited | Expected 2028–2029 | Not published |
Sources: Solaris, 22 Dec 2017; The Brussels Times, 28 Sep 2018; Busworld Europe, 29 Nov 2023; mobilithib, 23 Jan 2025; VRT NWS, 10 Mar 2026; STIB-MIVB Activity Report 2025.
The eCitaro G order (about EUR 820,000 per bus) replaced about 50 Euro V articulated diesel buses that the low-emission zone barred from 1 January 2025 (RTBF, 28 Aug 2024; newmobility.news, 17 Jun 2024). The eCitaro G charges in a few minutes under a pantograph at the terminus, good for 30–40 km, and has a quoted range of about 200 km. The 36 standard eCitaros run a full day on one depot charge (Sustainable Bus, 11 Mar 2026).
The next big order is a tender for up to 300 standard electric buses, announced in June 2025 with a budget of EUR 250–300 million and a procedure of about 18 months (RTBF, 17 Jun 2025; Bruzz, 17 Jun 2025). STIB’s 2025 activity report says the specification was published at the end of December 2025 and bids were awaited. No award had been published by 28 October 2026. Any maker on the bus sheets with a 12 m low-floor bus is in principle a candidate; no STIB order for Iveco, VDL or BYD electric buses was found.
A Van Hool hydrogen bus was tested in 2021–2023, refuelled at Zaventem. STIB said in 2024 that hydrogen is not part of its current plans and in 2025 that it stays battery-only to 2035 (RTBF, 28 Aug 2024; RTBF, 17 Jun 2025).
Charging and depots
STIB charges in two ways: overnight at the depot, and in a few minutes at the end of the line under a charging mast (pantograph). The first four masts went up in April 2019 at Porte de Namur and at the Haren depot entrance. At the end of 2025 there were 16 fast-charging masts at 7 termini: Porte de Namur, Haren, Marly, Jacques Brel, Pannenhuis (2), Westland (4) and Moortebeek (2). Simonis (3) and Central Station / Loxum (2) follow in 2026, more masts in 2027–2029, and 18 termini by the end of 2035 (STIB-MIVB Activity Report 2025; Stibstories, 26 Aug 2025). The charger sheets list depot and pantograph equipment of this kind.
| Depot | Where | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Marly | Neder-Over-Heembeek, north | STIB’s fifth bus depot and the first built only for electric buses. Marly I opened in August 2019 and houses the eCitaro G fleet; charging is being extended to the equivalent of 225 standard buses. Marly II (190 × 70 m, five levels, 21-stand workshop) was 47 % built at the end of 2025; all teams move in during 2027. The standard eCitaros are based here since early 2026. |
| Haren | Haren | Existing depot, partly electrified, with fast-charging masts at the entrance. |
| Jacques Brel | Anderlecht | Bus section refurbished, works completed in 2025; partly electrified, full electric equipment planned. |
| Petite-Île / Klein Eiland | Anderlecht | Not yet electrified; a full refit for electric buses is planned, with no date published. |
| Delta | Auderghem | Current depot to be fully redesigned; a new, additional electric-bus depot is to be built at Delta in 2033–2035 with Bruxelles Environnement. |
Sources: STIB-MIVB Activity Report 2025; Stibstories, 27 Aug 2019, updated 18 Jul 2025; MIVB stories, 26 Aug 2025. The Region’s public service contract calls depot space “a major challenge” and promises help in securing land (STIB-MIVB, 22 Dec 2023).
For context only: Keolis, a private operator in Brussels, electrified its own Neder-over-Heembeek depot in 2024 with 26 fast chargers of 150 kW (Keolis Belgium, 17 Mar 2026).
The 2035 goal and the money
- Goal: the whole STIB bus fleet electric by the end of 2035, written into the public service contract 2024–2028 approved on 22 December 2023 (STIB-MIVB, 22 Dec 2023). Earlier statements in 2017 and 2018 said 2030; the date has slipped once.
- Halfway point: half the fleet electric by 2029, according to CEO Brieuc de Meeûs (Bruzz, 17 Jun 2025). About 300 electric buses are needed to replace most of the 357 remaining diesel buses.
- Cost: the full electrification, depots included, is put at about EUR 1 billion (RTBF, 17 Jun 2025).
- Loan: the European Investment Bank lent EUR 475 million in December 2022, its largest loan in Brussels, covering 94 electric buses (70 articulated and 24 standard), 90 trams, 43 metro trains and 63 km of track (EIB, 19 Dec 2022).
- EU grant money: the eCitaro order is co-funded by NextGenerationEU (Stibstories, 26 Aug 2025).
The Brussels low-emission zone for buses and coaches
The Brussels LEZ covers all 19 municipalities; the Ring R0 and some access roads to park-and-rides are outside it. The table gives the lowest Euro standard a bus or coach needs to enter, by year. “City bus” is vehicle class M3 class I, II and A; “coach” is M3 class III and B. Electric and hydrogen vehicles are exempt automatically; public-transport buses get no special exemption. The fine is EUR 350 per non-compliant entry, at most once per three months (Bruxelles Environnement, LEZ calendar, April 2026; lez.brussels, consulted 28 Oct 2026).
| From | City bus, diesel or hybrid | City bus, petrol, CNG or LPG | Coach, diesel or hybrid | Coach, petrol, CNG or LPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Euro V | Euro II | Euro V | Euro II |
| 2025, enforced since 2026 | Euro VI | Euro III | Euro VI | Euro III |
| 2028 | Euro VI | Euro IV | Euro VI | Euro IV |
| 2030 | Euro VI | Euro VI | Euro VI | Euro VI |
| 2035 | Euro VId | Euro VId | Euro VId | Euro VId |
| 2036 | Banned: zero-emission only | Banned: zero-emission only | Euro VIe | Euro VIe |
Our reading of the official one-page calendar (text extracted from the PDF). The 2025 step was legally in force from 2025 but is enforced since 2026: a court case over its postponement ended on 11 December 2025 when the Constitutional Court annulled the delay, and a tolerance for Euro 5 diesel ran until spring 2026 (RTBF, 11 Dec 2025). The LEZ assessment report confirms that city buses must be electric from 2036 (lez.brussels, 16 Oct 2025).
What this means for an operator or a maker: every diesel city bus in Brussels, STIB’s or a private company’s, has to be gone by the end of 2035, and since 2026 only Euro VI diesels may enter at all. Coaches keep a diesel path (Euro VIe) after 2036. The EU rule above this, Regulation (EU) 2024/1610, requires 90 % of new city buses sold in the EU to be zero-emission from 2030 and 100 % from 2035 (European Commission, updated 30 Jan 2026). More on the rules and money page.
What this page could not confirm
- Who wins STIB’s tender for up to 300 standard electric buses: bids were still awaited in the 2025 activity report and no award was found by 28 October 2026.
- The exact battery capacity (kWh) of STIB’s eCitaro G and eCitaro; STIB has not published it, the sheets carry the maker’s figures.
- The total fleet at the end of 2025: the activity report’s statistics page is an image; “about 850” comes from STIB’s corporate blog of August 2025.
- The model split of the 400 hybrids: an enthusiast fleet list accounts for about 257 by model, the rest is unknown.
- A date for the electrification of the Petite-Île depot: none is published.
- The LEZ table is our reading of the official PDF; check the slide itself before relying on a single cell.