A U.S. transit agency took a major step towards building the first electric transit fleet in the country on Thursday by signing a contract for 85 electric buses with Chinese electric car maker BYD Motors.
"It is a great victory, not only for the U.S. but also for China," Marvin Christ, chairman of board of directors of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA), told Xinhua after the signing. "We are changing the entire world, as far as going from diesel to electric buses, with the economic and environmental benefits it has," he said.
BYD Motors, a global leader in developing electric vehicles and based in Guangdong province in south China, will build the electric buses for the AVTA at its manufacturing facility in Lancaster, California.
"This contract has boosted our confidence. Many, including the AVTA, had doubt about us when our products first entered the U.S. market two years ago. The two years have proved that their doubt was unnecessary," Wang Chuanfu, BYD Chairman and CEO, told Xinhua.
"Our technology has filled the gap in the field of purely electric powered buses in the U.S.," he said. BYD Motors will build a variety of electric models for the AVTA, including a low floor transit bus, a low floor articulated bus and a commuter coach. The first batch of 29 buses will be delivered within the next 12 months.
"There are multiple benefits in electrifying our bus fleet, from creating jobs and eliminating harmful air pollutants, to reducing dependence on foreign oil. These benefits will be seen at the local, regional, state and national levels. It's really a win-win," Christ said.
With the new electric bus fleet, the AVTA is expecting to save more than 46 million U.S. dollars in operational cost compared to an diesel bus fleet.
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