Friday, June 28, 2013

LA Metro Buys Electric Buses From BYD

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Thursday afternoon that it has approved a deal to buy its first electric buses, from BYD Motors. The Metro said it will buy up to 25 new, all-electric buses as part of a $30M, clean air bus technology pilot. Chinese electric auto firm BYD recently opened up a Los Angeles area headquarters to head up its efforts in the U.S. BYD said the new buses will be assembled in Lancaster. The Metro said that its Advanced Transit Vehicle Consortium (ATVC) will initially purchase five, 40-foot all-electric buses, and then run a period of testing and evaluation. If those tests work out, the Metro has the opportunity to purchase up to 20 additional buses. Photo of BYD eBus in Guangdong, China, courtesy Remko Tanis@Flickr

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