60-Foot Battery-Electric Bus Unveiled
BYD Motors introduced "The Lancaster" this month at the 2014 American Public Transportation Association Expo in Houston. It's the world's largest battery-electric vehicle, according to the manufacturer.
A 60-foot battery-electric bus made its debut this month when BYD Motors displayed it at the 2014 American Public Transportation Association Expo in Houston. BYD Motors urged the audience at an unveiling ceremony to "throw off the shackles of a single-fueled system – an electric platform is 'adaptable' – it becomes cleaner as you do, through the use of renewable wind, water and solar renewable power generation."
"The consequences of our choices today will leave a legacy that our children will live with, both environmentally and economically, for decades into the future," Austin added.
BYD Motors, part of the Chinese company BYD Company Ltd., said this is the first American electric articulated bus and the world's largest battery-electric vehicle, and it is named "The Lancaster" after the city in California where it was designed and manufactured.
The bus can drive more than 170 miles with a passenger load of up to 120 passengers. "BYD's mission is to create safer and more environmentally friendly battery technologies. This has resulted in the BYD Iron-Phosphate Battery, a fire-safe, completely recyclable, and incredibly long-cycle technology -- the foundation of BYD's Electric buses. These buses run entirely off battery power lasting up to 24 hours on a single charge, with single off-peak charging time of two to four hours," said BYD Motors Fleet Sales Vice President Brendan Riley. "No additional generation capacity is needed to be built to charge our buses at night since the grid is only 40 percent utilized."