First Zero-Emission, Pure-Electric Bus Launches in India

[librankur]

First Zero-Emission, Pure-Electric Bus Launches in India

The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content.

PRESS RELEASE

February 28, 2014, 11:07 a.m. ET

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First Zero-Emission, Pure-Electric Bus Launches in India

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Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Selects BYD 40-foot Bus

BANGALORE, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 28, 2014--

The Karnataka State Minister of Transportation - Ramalinga Reddy, representatives from Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), and BYD Company Ltd. all gathered for the launch of a brand new program soon to change the skies of Bangalore, forever. Often referred to as the "Silicon Valley" of India, Bangalore is also known for its challenging air quality problems. This is a huge step for the Nation of India and will hopefully develop into a public transportation initiative across India benefiting their 1.2 billion citizens.

The first long-range, all-electric bus in India arrived from BYD Company Ltd. in Feb. 2014. The bus achieves up to 24 hours of service on a single night-time charge -- longer than any other electric bus in the market today. (Photo: Business Wire)

"Operating electric buses not only to initialize and support new technologies, shows our respect to the city and urban residents with our social and environmental responsibility," stated the Transportation Minister in ceremonies last Friday.

Mr. Vishwas, Vice President of BYD India's distribution partner, Utopia, said, "We are very bullish on the prospect of new energy vehicles in India. We look forward to working with BYD to promote the popularization of new energy vehicles." Mr. Liu Xueliang, GM of BYD's Asia-Pacific Group, said, "BYD is offering zero-emission, electrified public transportation solutions to the whole world. We are very excited to work with partners like BMTC and Utopia to put India's first electric bus into operation. It will not only contribute to the new energy vehicle development and application in Karnataka state but the whole of India." Although the electric bus comes with a higher initial price tag, officials expressed confidence that the total cost of ownership for the vehicle would make initial investments well worth the price. The list of vehicle benefits is long; including the fact that it is quiet, does not pollute, and has low operational and maintenance costs. The bus has been operating successfully in various European countries besides China, officials said. The bus fare will be equivalent to that of other buses, currently operating in the same urban areas. There are Bangalore, while the bus fleet emits up to 20% of the city's total exhaust. Given the difference of the electric price and diesel price, the BYD electric bus is not only zero emission but also has high economic value. Traditional diesel buses consume 0.55 L of diesel per kilometer in India, but by comparison, BYD's 40 foot all-electric bus only consumes about 1 Kwh electric per kilometer (with no HVAC). The results are that millions in cost savings can be realized in Bangalore. Last year, the Indian government reviewed the "national electric vehicle plan (2020)" and announced that India planned to put in place as many as 6-7 million new energy vehicles by 2020. The national heavy industry ministry is responsible for implementing the plan.

BYD's pure-electric bus employs many advanced technologies developed in-house by BYD's staff of more than 15,000 engineers. The advanced environmentally friendly, Iron-Phosphate (or "Fe") batteries, in-wheel hub motors and regenerative braking. The break-through BYD Iron-Phosphate battery is fire-safe and non-toxic: there are no caustic materials contained in the battery, no toxic electrolytes or heavy metals and can be completely recycled. The BYD electric bus delivers a host of operational and environmental benefits for public transport riders, operators and people in the community -- it is very quiet and ensures a comfortable ride without vibrations, jerks or noise associated with the conventional buses and combustion engines. The bus can also drive for more than 250 km (155 miles) even in heavy city traffic on a single charge. The bus has completed more than 20 million kilometers of "in revenue service" and has been evaluated in many major cities all over the world.

About BMTC

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is the sole public bus transport provider for Bangalore, serving urban, sub-urban and rural areas. BMTC is committed to provide quality, safe, reliable, clean and affordable travel. The testimony of its success lies in increasing passenger trips everyday by a wide range of customer base. In an effort to modernize its services for commuter comfort, BMTC strives to strengthen information systems and improve processes through introduction of intelligent technology solution, make capacity enhancement through infrastructure development, user-friendly interchange facilities, fleet upgradation and augmentation, apart from its core activities, which includes fare structuring, route network optimization, planning and monitoring. BMTC reaches far and wide, in every nook and corner of the city, making public transport an attractive travel choice for everyone. BMTC's stronghold in the area of public transport in Bangalore is a testimony to its adoption of sound Management, HR, Quality and Environmental policies and strong support from the Government of Karnataka and esteemed passengers.

About BYD

BYD Company Ltd. is one of China's largest companies to have successfully expanded globally. Specializing in battery technologies, their green mission to "solve the whole problem" has made them industry pioneers and leaders in several High-tech sectors including High-efficiency Automobiles, Electrified Public Transportation, Environmentally Friendly Energy Storage, Affordable Solar Power and Information Technology and Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) services.

As the world's largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, their mission to create safer and more environmentally friendly battery technologies has led to the development of the BYD Iron Phosphate (or "Fe") Battery. This fire-safe, completely recyclable and incredibly long-cycle technology has become the core of their clean energy platform that has expanded into automobiles, buses, trucks, utility vehicles and energy storage facilities. BYD and all of their shareholders, including the great American Investor Warren Buffett, see these environmentally and economically forward products as the way of the future.

BYD has made a strong entrance to the North, Central and South American markets with their battery electric buses, and lineup of automobiles. Their mission lies not just in sales growth, but also in sociological integration and local job creation as they have poured incredible investments into developing offices, dealerships and manufacturing facilities in the local communities they now call home, truly a first for Chinese companies. For more information, please visit www.byd.com or www.facebook.com/bydcompany.

CONTACT: BYD

In China:

Sherry Li, +86-755-8988-8888-69666

pr@byd.com

or

In US:

Micheal Austin, 1-800-BYD-AUTO

micheal.austin@byd.com

or

In Europe:

Penny Peng, +31-102070888

penny.peng@byd.com

SOURCE: BYD Company Ltd.

Copyright Business Wire 2014

The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content.

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http://www.businessw...40228005608/en/

[librankur]

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[Shashank_GTO]

I really like the idea of using electric busses for public transport!!

It would be so environmental friendly!! Especially in our over crowded and heavily polluted cities!!

It would turn out to be beneficial to the environment only if the source of electricity production is clean.

Meaning if fossil fuels (coal) aren't used in process of generating electricity, as such process causes a lot of air pollution.

Where as hydro electricty poduction is a far cleaner process of producing electricity.

Ammm.. I have a solution for our transport corporations in order to become self sufficient.

INDIA'S FUTURE PM PLEASE READ!!

As our country lies on the tropic of cancer and we are not very far from the equator, we do get sufficient amount of sunlight!

This sunlight could be harnessed (solar power) and electricity so generated can be used to fuel such busses.

Initial cost of this project would be very high, but long term benefits would outnumber it, both in monetary terms and for the protection of our environment.

Bus depots are huge parking lots used to park busses, such bus parking lots are open and do not have a roof.

Roofs can be made on such huge depots and solar panels can be fitted above the roof in order to harness the sunlight. Other equipment used in production of solar power do not occupy a lot of space and hence there won't be a noticable drop in parking area available.

Once the solar panels are fitted, electricity supply would be virtually free and the only cost to the transport corporations would be the maintainance of solar panel and equipments (which is not much), maintainance of the busses and salary of its employees.

There would be 'Zero' fuel cost!!

Profit margins would increase and also the cost of transport (that the commuter has to bear) would go down.

Here are a few examples of how it can be done:

A small roof with solar panels on it.

Or the whole area of the depot being cover by solar panels.

Depending upon amount of electricity required by that particular depot.

Busses can itself have solar panels on its roof, like these:

I really hope something like this becomes a reality in our near future.

[PrancingHorse]

Here is Autocar Professional's report on the zero emission bus that has started plying in Bangalore

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has introduced India’s first electric bus for passenger service in Bangalore. The e-bus, supplied by Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Company, began plying on February 28. BYD’s pure-electric 31-seater bus employs many advanced technologies including Iron-Phosphate (or Fe) batteries, in-wheel hub motors and regenerative braking. BYD says it’s the battery is fire-safe and non-toxic: there are no caustic materials contained in the battery, no toxic electrolytes or heavy metals and can be completely recycled. The e-bus can be driven for around 250km, even in heavy city traffic, on a single charge, which takes four to six hours. The vehicle uses four ferrous batteries with a capacity of 324 kWh (kilowatt-hour); energy consumption stands at 1.2 kWh per kilometre. The e-bus battery pack has a battery management system (BMS) that monitors safety, voltage and temperature of individual cells for charge safety and balancing. BYD city e-buses are currently in use globally in the US, Hong Kong, Columbia, Chile, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands. BMTC’s managing director Anjum Parwez said the corporation will use the e-bus on a trial basis for three months. “Based on its performance, we will decide about including more such buses as part of our fleet.” Karnataka state transport minister R Ramalinga Reddy, who launched the initiative, said the initiative is part of a government programme to support an emission-free transport system. He said the e-bus is expected to cost Rs 2.7 crore per unit. BMTC officials say the vehicle has an advantage of low running costs at Rs 7 per kilometre as compared to Rs 18 per kilometre for other luxury AC city buses. Parwez said the e-bus’ various safety features include a fire detection system and sensors which help detect a spark or smoke and display an alert signal on the dashboard to caution the driver. The bus comes with two sliding doors and two roof hatches that could serve as emergency exits. In addition, two CCTV cameras are also fitted in the saloon area. Other highlights include LED destination display boards at the front and rear, internal display board with in-bus voice announcement system with a display both in English and Kannada. BMTC, which is one of the largest transport corporations in the country, was the first Indian public sector enterprise to introduce Volvo buses in 2006 to facilitate inter-city commuting in Bangalore. It currently caters to 4.95 million commuters every day in Bangalore city and has a fleet of 6,696 buses. Each day, the corporation, which has 39 depots and 50 bus stations across the city, operates 83,694 trips covering 13.26 lakh kilometres and has a per day traffic revenue of Rs 5.13 crore.

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[Sstar]

A good initiative, however, it should prove itself infront of Indian scenario of over crowded bus journey. I remember it was a problem when Diesel to CNG switch happened in Delhi. Because the CNG buses did not have enough power in them to take that overload.

So similar should be the story of this concept.

Actually, in India, each global concept gets it real robustness & load testing while the product gets launched here. So success or failure....only time will tell. But no doubt it is a great steps forward towards making green evironment.