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BYD Electric Bus Line Starts Production in California

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BYD Testing its Electric Bus, Soon to Go Into Service in California
BYD Testing its Electric Bus, Soon to Go Into Service in California

Chinese automaker BYD doesn’t sell electric vehicles in the United States, but the electric bus is a go, starting with a new plant in California.

The automarket in the United States is a tough one, and the electric vehicle market even more so. While sales of some electric vehicles have been on the rise, such as the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S, others have stagnated or even failed, such as the Toyota RAV4 EV and CODA Motors sedan. Breaking into the electric vehicle market, especially as an outsider, such as Chinese automaker BYD, has been a nigh-impossible task, for which BYD figures they might as well do something else, like build an electric bus.

Electric buses have been testing in various parts of the world, such as in Germany, where they are testing the combination of electric bus lines and wireless charging stations. South Korea is testing electric bus lines with continuous wireless charging cables that reduce the need for oversized batteries. For those who stress taking public transportation is cleaner than personal vehicles, the electric bus promises to be even cleaner than its diesel-powered counterparts.

BYD has branched out into other areas, such as the renewable energy storage market in Australia, and an electric bus plant that just opened in California. The first two fully-electric buses just rolled off the line, just the beginning of a new line of emissions-free public transportation. BYD’s new electric bus production facility in Lancaster, California, is set to deliver as many as 25 electric buses to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority this year. BYD will also compete for the Long Beach Transit bid for ten electric buses. A number of buses destined to be put in service by the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, could be running as soon as August 1, 2014.

Image © BYD

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