The northern region of Denmark has ordered 3 hydrogen fuel cell powered buses, at an expected price tag of almost $1 million each. In itself that is a very high cost compared to a standard Chinese BYD K9 electric bus at about $500,000, but what strikes me more is the chosen headline in the country’s respected national news media: “The future is here: the country’s first hydrogen buses are coming.”
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.
You are definitely living under a rock if you haven’t heard that many cities in China are suffering from record-breaking pollution levels. If you’re a hardcore regular of CleanTechnica, you also know that electric buses have been selling like hotcakes in China. The EV-loving city Shenzhen is taking it one step further. In Shenzhen, electric buses will make up all public bus transportation by the end of this year, primarily BYD electric buses.
Kansas City Airport became the first airport to integrate fully electric shuttles for passenger service today as it took delivery of four BYD 30 foot electric coaches.
BYD has officially joined a global push for “Soot-Free” cities. Note of interest: As a leader in electric bus production, BYD has the potential to play a key role in cleaning up surface air by supplying buses that replace dirty diesel-fired transit buses around the world.
BYD held the Grand Opening of Phase 3 of its Lancaster Bus and Coach Factory expansion on October 6th, 2017, with numerous company officials, dignitaries, and employees on hand to celebrate. CleanTechnica joined in the fun as well.
The City of Los Angeles is serious about its commitment to combating climate change. It is adding hundreds of electric cars to its municipal fleet and making plans that will allow low-income residents to dump their older cars with high emissions for cleaner cars. It is promoting many miles of bike paths. And the Los Angeles county public transportation system, known as the Metro, has just inked a deal with BYD to buy 60 electric buses for its fleet.
BYD continues its global charge into new cleantech markets at a breakneck pace. Following news of a new electric bus assembly factory in France and a full-blown factory in Hungary, BYD announced that it is expanding its operations in Campinas, Brazil, which originally opened in 2015. The company is adding a solar photovoltaic factory and an electric bus chassis assembly factory.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is incrementally electrifying transportation on, from, and to the aviation hub. Being the largest airport in the Netherlands and the 3rd largest player in Europe, with 63.6 million passengers handled in 2016, Schiphol has expressed an ambition to become the most sustainable airport in the world. An important means of reaching this goal is by switching over to electric drivetrains for vehicles operating on the airport itself, as well as for transportation of passengers to and from Schiphol Airport.
The use of two newly acquired, clean, quiet, all-electric buses is starting in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. The Sierra Club reports that the BYD electric buses coming to St. Pete and other locations in Pinellas County will run as often as possible this year so that more people can experience them and their emissions-cutting potential is maximized.
