Another electric bus order in the United States has been broken as BYD announced a new order of 130 K7M electric buses, making it the largest order in the US so far.
The buyer is the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and helps progress the city’s “Green New Deal” which hopes to make the entire LADOT fleet of busses be zero-emission by 2030. Additionally, the entire City of Los Angeles has a goal of having every one of its vehicles be zero-emission by 2050.
BYD North America President Stella Li made the following statement regarding the deal:
“We applauded LADOT for its bold leadership, ambition, and desire to improve the air quality for the City of Los Angeles. BYD buses will be an important component of the city’s efforts to meet its sustainability goals. We are proud to partner with an agency that shares our green dream.”
According to BYD the 130 electric buses will “reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8,225 metric tons per year and by 98,700 metric tons over the buses’ 12-year life”. This represents an 81% in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to LADOT’s compressed natural gas buses.
The K7M electric bus is not BYD’s largest electric bus at only 30 ft. and 22 seats, but it is one of their most popular products. It sports a range of 150 miles and can be charged in 2.5 to 3 hours.
While BYD is a Chinese automaker, all of their electric buses will be made at BYD’s Coach & Bus factory in Lancaster, California and incorporate more than 70% US content.
With this purchase, BYD now has sold more than 460 electric buses in Southern California airports, universities, private operations, and transit agencies.
The amount of planned electric buses on US streets is still low when compared to Europe and China, but with each passing month we seem to write about another new electric bus order from a US city, so it looks like momentum is beginning to pick up.
What do you guys think of the order? Let us know down in the comments below.
Source: BYD
