BYD Buses Win Washington Electric Bus Contract

Never heard of BYD? You’re not alone. The Chinese company is big in its home country but less well know elsewhere, especially in the United States. But Warren Buffett is a major stockholder and BYD has built more electric buses than any company in history. It also operates a fleet of electric crossovers in selected US cities as part of local carsharing services, including 200 in Chicago used by Uber drivers.

The Department of Transportation in Washington wrapped up a bid proposal for up to 800 electric buses in 12 different categories in August. BYD buses has been awarded the contract in 10 of those categories. The contract has the potential to be the biggest in US history, since it includes buses from 30 to 60 feet in length for both highway and intra-city applications, as well as long- and short-range on-route charging configurations.

According to Electric Cars Report, BYD is the only bus manufacturer with wireless on-route charging as an option approved by the Washington DOT. This is seen as a visionary move by the state of Washington State, one that clearly establishes it as one of the most environmentally conscious states in the nation. Any transit agency or public institution in Washington, as well as the state of Oregon, is now able to procure electric buses from the RFP, which will greatly simplify the procurement process.

BYD employs more than 15,000 R&D engineers. It has developed a proprietary iron-phosphate battery which boasts the only 12-year battery warranty in the industry. Combined with BYD’s own in-wheel hub motors and regenerative braking system, the BYD battery electric bus reportedly offers the lowest lifecycle cost of ownership. It is very quiet and ensures a comfortable ride without vibrations, jerks, or the noise associated with conventional buses and combustion engines. The bus can also drive for more than 155 miles even in heavy city traffic on a single charge.

As of April 1st, 2015, BYD bus fleets have completed more than 50 million miles of “in revenue service” and have been evaluated by more than 150 cities in 36 countries around the world.

Barcelona’s transit agency director told Gas2 director Zachary Shahan in 2013 that BYD electric buses seemed to have the same lifecycle cost of a conventional diesel bus… but without all of the health and climate problems.

Photo Credit: BYD

Phoenix Cars Builds Electric Shuttle Bus

Phoenix Cars is backed by money from Dubai and PR by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is committed to developing a full line of sensible electric vehicles, from a small compact hatch to a full-size commercial truck and everything in between. Part of that “everything in between”, it seems, is an all-electric, 14 passenger shuttle destined to ferry hotel patrons to and from Southern California airports in the near future.

You can read more about the new Phoenix Cars project in this article, below, which originally appeared on Cleantechnica. Enjoy!

14-Passenger Electric Bus In The Development Pipeline Of Phoenix Cars

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A new, all-electric, 14-passenger shuttle-bus is currently in the development pipeline of Phoenix Motorcars.

Those of you familiar with the company will no doubt recall that it went bankrupt just a few years ago — and subsequently began a shift away from the development of light-duty vehicles. The new bus represents one of the company’s first offerings since that bankruptcy.

A press release provides some more details:

Phoenix Cars LLC., a leading developer of electric vehicle technologies for the fleet market, today announced the introduction of its modular, electric vehicle (EV) platform and it’s all new 14-passenger, all-electric shuttle bus focused on the US and international markets.

“Phoenix Cars LLC. worked very closely with its key technology partners to develop a compact and modular EV platform, which can be integrated into a diverse range of vehicle applications,” said Steven Davis, president, Phoenix Cars LLC. “The first Phoenix Cars product to utilize this platform is an all-electric shuttle bus that was designed expressly for use by commercial fleets. Our electric shuttle bus offers fleet owners an outstanding value proposition, because our shuttle costs significantly less to maintain and operate than traditional gas or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles.”

The electric shuttle bus is powered by Phoenix’ new EV platform, which includes a proprietary vehicle controller, Remy™ permanent magnet traction motor, Sevcon™ motor inverter, and a Coslight™ lithium-ion battery pack and battery management system.

While it’s certainly good to see Phoenix Motorcars continue to chug-along and release new models, the market has gotten quite a bit more competitive in the last few years. The company will now have to contend with the likes of surging BYD (which, admittedly, doesn’t offer such a small electric bus yet but a more typical bus), and other, long-established companies like Volvo.

While on that subject, Volvo recently supplied the electric buses making up the Swedish city of Gothenburg’s new “ultra-modern” bus service, ElectriCity.

How would Phoenix Motorcars edge out companies like that? Or should it just look to carve out a different, highly specific niche?

Source | Photos: Phoenix Motorcars, via Cleantechnica.

BYD Delivers First Buses In California

With the delivery of two electric buses to the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, BYD has become the first Chinese automaker to build a vehicle in America. That’s a big milestone, and all the bigger because those vehicles are all-electric buses vying for big transit contracts from coast to coast.

Rated at 155 miles per charge, the BYD electric buses are quiet-running and zero emissions, two great selling for taxpayers. Municipal governments, meanwhile, could stand to save big bucks on costly diesel fuel that mosts buses currently use, which is why Los Angeles has already signed a contract to take delivery of up to 25 of the electric buses. BYD had a $12.1 million with Long Beach, but it was canceled over a contract clause, forcing BYD to re-submit its bid.

A minor setback which hasn’t slowed the Chinese automaker’s efforts to start building vehicles in America, and while the initial workforce consists of just 60 people, BYD hopes to employ 200 people by the end of 2015. Destined for service in the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, mostly in the city of Lancaster just north of L.A.

It was many moons ago that BYD first announced its American ambitions, and they’ve been delayed time and again, so imagine the collective sigh of relief at the delivery of these first buses. Whether consumers are ready for Chinese-built electric vehicles remains to be seen, but for now at least, EV buses are on the menu.

Source: BYD