São Paulo Transit completes successful trials of 40-foot BYD electric bus; revenue service starting in 2014
04 December 2013
São Paulo Transit has completed a pilot program of a 40-foot BYD electric bus conducted by the city which concluded that the battery-electric bus was effective on more than 80% of routes currently in operation. BYD Motors will deliver two new buses to the city for revenue service in first quarter 2014.
With an overnight charge (conducted off-peak), the bus was found to have an average of 250 kilometers (155 miles) in operational service. The same BYD bus design has successfully completed similar pilot programs world-wide. Currently BYD’s Battery-Electric bus has proven its capabilities on operational routes in Europe, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Asia as well as in the neighboring South American nation of Colombia.
The new electric buses will be integrated along with 20 current buses operating on Line 509M. This corridor is known as the “Smart Bus” route and hosts amenities such as a WiFi network, news broadcasting, and a smart route maps and information system.
In the second phase, SPTransit will implement a Second Swing Passenger Door version of the bus to accommodate multiple fare collection options as well as reducing load/unload time by 38%. This system integrates 73 buses from 7 different lines of different shapes and sizes including a double-decker model and an articulated model.
Interesting test results. BYD may have a winner here and worldwide sales could multiply quickly. Will copy cats also multiply?
On a daily basis, one dirty diesel city bus can pollute as much as 1000 small private cars.
Replacing ICE buses with e-buses in major cities should be one of the highest priority followed closely by taxis.
Posted by: HarveyD | 04 December 2013 at 07:37 AM
Interesting? More like unrevealing: what does "effective" mean? You're probably optimistic and taking effective to mean cost-competitive. I take it to mean that it can do the route without running out of juice.
Posted by: DavidJ | 04 December 2013 at 08:24 AM