Chinese electric buses make public transport greener in Europe

By Zheng Bin, People’s Daily

Pure electric buses made by Chinese automaker BYD have been exported to over 100 cities in more than 20 European countries, as new energy is being massively promoted in the transport sector on the European continent.

BYD electric buses there have run a total mileage of 60 million kilometers, reducing approximately 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission.

Last September, BYD signed an order of 106 pure electric buses with Nobina, the largest public transport operator in northern Europe, which marked the official entrance of the Chinese automaker into the Finnish market.

A spokesperson of Nobina said that BYD’s transport solutions were cleaner, more comfortable and sustainable, and totally met Nobina’s requirement for high-quality public transport.

In London, red double-decker buses made by BYD are often seen cruising on the streets. Since 2015, BYD has started cooperation with British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) to produce pure electric buses. So far, over 400 BYD-ADL buses have hit the road, occupying over 60 percent of the market share.

Chinese manufacturing is contributing to a clean air revolution on the roads of the UK, said a regional manager of a major British bus operator.

Europe is the birthplace of modern passenger vehicles. For Chinese bus manufacturers, to have a space in the European market creates not only market value, but also brand value.

He Yipeng, general manager of BYD Europe told People’s Daily that developed countries in Europe are considered priority destinations for the company when it makes overseas development strategies, as it wants to improve its own capabilities in the fierce local market competition.

In March 2020, the Chinese automaker won an iF Design Award, known as the “Design Oscar,” with one of its buses. So far, over 1,500 BYD electric buses have been delivered or on order throughout Europe, accounting for around 20 percent of the market share.

Key technologies are what made the success of Chinese manufacturers in overseas market. BYD has acquired the core technologies of new energy vehicle (NEV) chips, batteries, motors, power control, charging facilities and auto assembly.

Power battery is a core part of NEV that accounts for 30 percent to 40 percent of a vehicle’s cost. “Our battery technologies are advanced, and no safety accident has ever happened to our buses because of batteries,” He said.

A great brand needs not only great products, but also complete services and support. When exporting its products, BYD is also promoting integrated solutions for bus electrification, developing smart monitoring and diagnosis systems for bus operation and using big data for dispatching. It has significantly reduced after-sale and maintenance cost and offered references for building future smart public transport systems, being welcomed by many countries and regions.