Scania and Flix announce long-term partnership to make sustainable long-distance travel a reality

• New long-term partnership between Flix and Scania will see the increased use of biogas vehicles in bus travel
• Initially, Scania will supply up to 50 Bio-LNG (LBG) coaches to be run by Flix’s bus partners across its FlixBus network by 2025
• Fleet transformation is a key part of Flix’s long-term decarbonisation strategy, with the company hoping to reach full carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040

Södertälje, Sweden, 18 September 2023: German brand Flix and Scania have announced a long-term partnership to make sustainable long-distance travel a reality.

The ambition is to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility by developing new solutions and influencing the design on the needed infrastructure.

Initially, Scania will be providing the German brand, who offer intercity bus services across Europe, North America and Brazil, with up to 50 Bio-LNG (LBG) coaches by 2025.

The vehicles, based on Irizar’s i6s Efficient coaches, will be fitted Scania’s chassis and LNG powertrain, which has been developed to interchange between LNG and LBG.

The coaches will run on a mixture of LBG and LNG to begin with but will move to running solely on the renewable fuel as soon as the infrastructure makes it possible. By making this change, the expected CO₂ emissions produced will reduce by up to 80% on average.

Johanna Salomonsson Lind, Senior Vice President and Head of People Transport Solutions at Scania, said: “Our ambition is to be a front-runner in the shift towards sustainable transport, and this collaboration with Flix represents a significant step in that direction.

“Biogas solutions are truly circular, and they’re possible to implement today, providing a sustainable solution that meets climate targets and reinforces social responsibility.

“The coaches also represent a smart and sensible choice, because they supply the range and power needed to support any route, at low cost in terms of both investment and operating economy.

“We are extremely happy to do this jointly with Flix as we know that a wide implementation of biogas solutions can have such a positive impact, not only for the operator, but also for authorities and society at large.”

Driving this partnership is their individual commitments to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which provides companies with a clearly defined path to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals.

As the first major manufacturer of heavy commercial vehicles to commit, Scania’s commitment is to cut CO₂ emissions from internal operations by 50% and to support customers to reduce their emissions from their vehicles in use by 20% by 2025 from 2015.

Flix’s participation relates to its recently announced commitment to fully decarbonise in Europe by 2040. And they aim to realise this ambition by following a holistic four-point climate strategy, where fleet transformation plays a crucial role through the use of renewable fuels.

Fabian Stenger, Chief Operating Officer at Flix, said: “Climate change is increasingly taking its toll on the planet and people’s lives, and as a global travel tech company, we are aware of our responsibility in paving the way for a more sustainable future for the communities we serve.

“We are eager to seize any viable opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint on the environment, with fleet transformation being crucial.

“Scania is an extremely valuable ally for Flix and our bus partners, and we are happy to be able to rely on their long-term expertise and know-how to contribute to reshaping long-distance mobility.

“In time, this will also help us adapt our offering to the rising demand for low-impact travel options from a public that is growing more and more environmentally conscious by the day.”

Scania has plenty of experience with biogas buses, including supplying Nottingham City Transport with the largest fleet of biogas double deck buses in the world.

The benefits of the technology are that it cuts CO₂ emissions significantly while also reducing the overall noise and providing similar power and torque of an equivalent diesel engine.

Using biogas has its own benefits. It is fossil-free, renewable and locally produced. Moving from compressed biogas to the liquified form makes it possible to carry more fuel and increase the range capacity.

By switching to locally produced liquid biogas as fuel in long-distance transport, operators can substantially reduce both their own and their customers’ climate impact.