BYD bringing electric buses to Uruguay; targeting more than 500 by 2015
19 July 2012
José Mujica, President of Uruguay, China-based BYD, CTS and Buquebus officials signed a contract to begin bringing electric buses into Uruguay. The first BYD electric buses will arrive in Uruguay before end of 2012 with targets to have over 500 buses running on roads by 2015.
The BYD GreenCity buses that CTS and Buquebus are purchasing are able to run 250 km (155 miles) on a single charge in urban conditions, with an energy consumption of less than 130 kWh per 100 km. The BYD buses have been in service in four cities including Shenzhen, Changsha, Shaoguan and Xi’an accumulating more than 5.6 million kilometers (or 3.4 million miles) by the end of April 2012.
I am ready to invest heavily in a natural Uruguay—I will replace my whole tourism bus fleet with new energy buses.
—Juan Carlos Lopez Mena, President of Buquebus, Uruguay’s largest tourism company
If may be easier to electrify a $500,000+ city bus than a $25,000 car.
The relative cost and weight of batteries required are not in the same order. Those heavy buses can easily take 1800+ Kg, 300+ Kwh battery costing $15,500+ while a regular car, like the Tesla S is more affected.
Electric city buses are cost effective today and will be more so year after year in the future. What an effective way to reduce harmful pollution where it is the worst, in city centers?
Posted by: HarveyD | 19 July 2012 at 09:00 AM