BYD will test three buses in Mexican cities

The Chinese firm, BYD Company, is testing its 12 meters long electric bus with some transport companies in Mexico, soon will integrate its 8 meters long model and by mid-2015 incorporate its articulated unit, informed to T21 Frank Deutsch, general manager of BYD Mexico. 

BYD models are pure electric buses which offer 250 kilometers with a single charge, “Thereby guarantee that any of the routes existing in Mexico will not require recharging stops until they arrive to their final destination,” he said. 

Regarding the buses which are here or will come for trial, they are ground floor units; the difference between these buses and the articulated ones is that these are not for BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), but to replace existing routes that already operate other schemes such as trolleybuses in Mexico City, without making big infrastructure changes. 

This company has its origins in the generation of batteries for mobile phones and laptop computers. Given the opportunity to be part of the industrial market, it ventured into recharge and storage plants, to later explore the opportunity in the transportation sector from the acquisition of an auto firm, with which now offers their own vehicles to market. 

Currently has presence in different parts of the world with their electric buses, and Deutsch believes that they soon will incorporate their vehicles in some public transport companies, especially those with an organized structure. 

Deutsch agreed that the main challenge in the incorporation of these models is the investment, “as for the initial capital perhaps it requires 80% additional to the cost of a bus with diesel engine, but the analysis must evaluate the vehicle life.”

Based on above, the manager said that one of the advantages of electric buses is the low maintenance, so if you consider that a unit has a lifespan of 12 years, the total investment is amortized over the first eight years and from the ninth the total income will be for the company or the carrier.