Electric buses @ BYD ebuses [VIDEO]

BYD Company Ltd. is one of China's largest companies and has successfully expanded globally. Specializing in battery technologies, their green mission to "solve the whole problem" has made them industry pioneers and leaders in several High-tech sectors including High-efficiency Automobiles , Electrified Public Transportation, Environmentally-Friendly Energy Storage, Affordable Solar Power and Information Technology and Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) services.

Long Beach Transit Board of Directors voted to recommend BYD Motors as the provider of 10 full-electric buses for Long Beach, CA, a city 30 miles south of Los Angeles, CA. On the last day of Governor Brown’s visit to China he announced that BYD buses will be assembled in Lancaster, CA. On May 1, 2013 there will be a grand celebration in Lancaster, CA.

The BYD electric bus or BYD ebus, called K9 in China, is an all-electric bus model manufactured by BYD powered with its self-developed Iron-phosphate battery, allegedly featuring the longest drive range of 250 km(155 miles) on one single charge under urban road conditions. BYD electric bus rolled off line on September 30, 2010 in Changsha city of Hunan province. This pure electric bus is another renewable energy vehicle by BYD following its models like F3DM, F6DM and e6. The K9 has a 12-meter body length and 18-ton weight with one-step low-floor interior for passengers' comfort, reportedly priced at 2–3 million yuan (S$395,000 - S$592,600). It has been running/tested in China and many other countries and regions such as Hong Kong, U.S., Colombia, Chile, Spain, Netherlands and Denmark. More than 200 BYD electric buses, in public transit service in Shenzhen China, have accumulated over 9,216,000 km (or 5,529,600 miles) by the end of August, 2012.

BYD's official specs publication on its electric bus includes:
Electric power consumption: less than 100kWh/60mins
Acceleration: 0–50 km/h in 20s
Top speed: 96 km/h
Normal charge: 6h for full charge
Fast charge: 3h for full charge
Or overnight charging: 60 kW Max.power to fully charge the bus within 5h
Range: 155 miles (249 km) (186 miles (299 km) according to some reports
Length*Width*Height: 12,000mm*2,550mm*3,200mm
Standard seats: 31+1 (31 for passengers and 1 for driver)
Weight: 18,000 kg
Clearance between one-step entry and ground: 360mm
While the parameters above are displayed on BYD's website, two or more versions of this bus have been exposed, say BYD K9A, K9B etc., the specifications of which will surely be different. The 2-door version has been in service in China's Shenzhen, Changsha, Xi'an and Shaoguan while its 3-door version has hit the roads in Shenzhen,Bogota etc. for test and demonstration purposes.

BYD electric bus is powered-only by its in-house developed Iron-cell batteries, which have been applied to BYD e6,BYD DESS and its other energy storage items, and is always emphasized as one of the company's core technologies. BYD claims no emission, no pollution from its electric buses and the chemical materials contained in the battery can be recycled without any toxins. As for the power system of this pure electric bus, BYD's self-innovated in-wheel motor drive system which realizes the function of in-wheel motor drive and hub reductor. The max power output is 90 kW*2 and the max torque is 550Nm*2. Solar panels fixed on the vehicle were once reported to provide more power to supplement the on-board batteries and they really were included on BYD's demo units but not those that have been running on the road commercially, such as in Shenzhen and Xi'an for instance.

This 12-meter bus has at least three versions when it comes to the body color(silver, yellow and green) for different markets. In the widely reported and dazzled silver version, the front windscreen occupies two-thirds of the front face of the bus for maximum viewing for the driver.Adjustable leather seating for driver and red and black leather seats for passengers. The battery packs are laid in the vehicle rear or both sides inside the two cabins. The non-step low-pass-aisle is designed for comfortable traveling experience