North American Orders For BYD EV’s

China’s BYD (Build Your Dreams) has announced two bus and commercial vehicle orders for battery-electric vehicles in North America. The first is for the State of Georgia’s Statewide Contracts for Public Mass Transit & Transportation Vehicles. The statewide contract will be a “convenience” source for all State of Georgia governmental entities, including state offices, agencies, departments, boards, bureaus, commissioners, institutions, colleges, universities, as well as local government, municipalities, cities, townships, counties and other political subdivisions in Georgia. The statewide contract will also be available to other governmental entities outside of Georgia.

Under the purchasing contract, entities can buy BYD coaches – the 23-ft. model C6M, the 35-ft. C8M, the 40-ft. C9M, and the 45-ft. C10M. The contract also includes buses – the 30-ft. model K7M, the 35-ft. K9S, the 40-ft. K9M, and the 60-ft. K11M.

In addition, BYD has been selected as one of the suppliers for the City of Atlanta’s contract for electric vehicles, which includes battery-electric heavy duty trucks, support/taxi fleet vehicles, and buses. Outside agencies will also be able to purchase vehicles under a co-operative agreement with the city.

The second contract is for nine battery-electric buses for the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL). BTop of Form

YD Canada announced that RTL will receive five 30-ft. buses and STM will receive an order of four of the same model.

“Long range electric battery buses make sense in Quebec,” said BYD Canada’s Vice President Ted Dowling. “We are using Hydro Quebec’s clean electricity to charge our buses overnight. This is the best use of surplus power and will save STM and RTL over $100,000 a year in diesel costs.”

The order from Longueuil was BYD Canada’s first order of heavy duty electric buses in Quebec. “The buses are the first of what we hope will become an important part of the fleets in both communities and others in Quebec,” said Dowling. The order puts STM and RTL ahead of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Climate Change’s new carbon pollution regulations for heavy-duty vehicles starting in 2020.

BYD Canada has buses on order or in operation in Toronto, Victoria, and St. Albert and Grand Prairie in Alberta.

BYD North America also recently announced its joint venture with Generate Capital, Inc., a leading financier, owner, and operator of distributed infrastructure, to launch the first electric bus leasing program of its kind in the United States.  BYD’s facility in Lancaster, Calif., includes more than 800 workers.