Alexandria (Egypt) Getting 1st Electric Buses, Thanks To Deal With BYD

The China-based auto manufacturer BYD has been expanding internationally in recent years quite a bit, with the most recent news on that front being that a deal has been struck that will see the old city of Alexandria granted its first electric buses.

Under the terms of the new deal, the Egyptian city will be purchasing 15 BYD K9 12-meter all-electric buses and 18 charging points, according to an email sent to CleanTechnica.

Alexandria, named after the infamous conqueror Alexander the Great, is the second largest city in Egypt, after Cairo, so this news is fairly notable and will probably be followed at some point by news of further deals in the country.

The email sent to CleanTechnica provides more: “The company won a competitive tender to provide its K9 pure electric buses after a call for submissions was made in April 2017. Countries such as Australia, the USA, UK, Japan, and Italy operate the K9 in various scenarios. Powered by BYD’s proprietary battery technology, the K9 has a range of 250 kilometers.

“BYD is ramping up its expansion across global markets as cities around the world shift towards more sustainable practices. In the Egyptian capital of Cairo, BYD’s sedan accounts for 40% of the city’s taxi fleet; its sports utility vehicle S5 is scheduled for a local launch in March. Also in the pipeline are plans to assemble electric buses and electric cars in Egypt, construct a BYD SkyRail monorail through Alexandria’s congested city center and possibly develop the country’s solar energy sector.”

So, there’s quite a lot in the works. There’s nothing all that surprising about this, of course, as Chinese investment into Africa has been surging over the last decade — with the mostly unstated (publicly anyways) plans apparently being to use the continent as a resource base and consumer market.

“The tide is turning towards a greener way of living. We need to give ourselves a fighting chance if we are to mitigate the effects of climate change,” commented AD Huang, the General Manager of BYD Middle East and Africa Auto Sales Division.

We’ll keep you posted about the details of BYD’s international expansion as the situation continues unfolding over the coming years.