Invest in our planet: Flix is driving the Mobility (R)Evolution

The company entered the market as FlixBus and started its revolution of long-distance bus travel and changed the way people travel across Europe. By gradually integrating a modernized Euro6 Diesel product, FlixBus has become one of the most sustainable means of transportation. The CO2 emissions speak for itself:  A passenger in Europe traveling by FlixBus accounts for 26g CO2 per passenger-kilometer. In comparison, a private car passenger’s carbon footprint is around five times bigger, and an airplane passenger’s even around ten times bigger.  

Growing as a company, taking millions of passengers to their desired destinations, the focus and vision of Flix has not changed: offering more sustainable and affordable mobility for everyone. Aiming to take the sustainability commitment to the next level, together with BYD and Yutong, Flix started pilot projects with electric buses: running in Germany and France, they were the world’s first long-distance electric buses.

Another milestone of the evolution of Flix was the introduction of FlixTrain in Germany. Running entirely on green energy, the fuel is carbon neutral. In 2021 FlixTrain’s green journey continued by expanding to Sweden.

Flix followed the sun: a FlixBus with solar panels started to run from Dortmund to London, today the bus is running between Paris and Eindhoven. For this pilot project, FlixBus worked with TRAILAR, a British company that offers innovative transport solutions to reduce the environmental impact of commercial vehicles. The solar panels generate energy for the bus’s electrical consumption which effectively reduces fuel consumption, leading to an average of 1.7 liters of diesel being saved per 100 km and CO2 emissions being reduced by up to 6,5%. Flix is currently investigating whether this innovative technology could be implemented throughout the fleet.  

The first biogas-powered buses were launched on the routes Amsterdam – Brussels, and Stockholm – Oslo. The bus between the Netherlands and Belgium is powered by compressed biogas (Bio-CNG) and is built by Iveco while the bus running between Sweden and Norway is powered by liquified biogas (Bio-LNG) and is a Scania model. Flix partnered with gas providers OrangeGas and Gasum, to ensure the most climate-friendly biogas. Using biogas-powered buses leads to 75% CO2 reduction compared to diesel operations on the same route.  Due to our modern and highly efficient fleet, 400.000 tons of CO2 from our passenger trips were avoided by choosing FlixBus and FlixTrain.

Already having launched several pilot projects and planning on many more to come, Flix joins forces to develop a revolutionary product: Europe’s first hydrogen-powered long-distance bus. In cooperation with Freudenberg Fuel Cell e-Power Systems and ZF Friedrichshafen, a fuel-cell-powered long-distance bus is being developed and expected to be launched in 2024. The aim is to establish a high-performance fuel cell system that will replace conventional diesel propulsion to achieve climate neutrality in long-distance bus travel.