* Belgium - Van Hool supplies five fuel cell buses to Oslo
Lier,Koningshooikt,Belgium -Busworld -17 July 2012: -- Five new fuel cell buses for Oslo (Norway) were officially presented to representatives from the Oslo-Akershus region. The five buses are now being used every day on the roads of the Norwegian capital... The Van Hool fuel cell buses are 13m long with three axles. Three doors provide access to a lowered floor that extends as far as the central door. The bus has 37 seats, 34 of which are forward-facing.
Fuel cell buses have zero emissions (complete absence of harmful emissions and CO2), and a substantially reduced noise level... The bus has a hybrid electric drive system. The hydrogen in the fuel cells is converted into electricity, with water vapour as the only emission, and the batteries provide additional power where and when necessary. Thanks to this hybrid drive and the recovery and reuse of braking energy, hydrogen consumption is restricted to approximately 30 kg per bus per day...
* China - Guangtong Bus obtains WVTA Certificate
Guangdong,China -Busworld -19 July 2012: -- The GTQ6117BEVB electric bus made by Zhuhai Guangtong Automobile Co. was recently awarded a European WVTA (Whole Vehicle Type Approval) certificate... The 11.5-meter-long bus, which costs ¥1.9 million ($300,000) to make, has a battery capacity of 220 Kwh. Deploying lightweight materials, the bus weight is comparable with that of a conventional diesel bus despite its 2-ton batterie load.
The company says it has already received a 200-unit order from the European market...
* China - BYD employees face temporary salary and benefir curto to trim costs
Pingshan,Shenzhen,P.R.China -Busworld -18 July 2012: -- Chinese electric bus and car manufacturer BYD Co. will reduce employee salaries and benefits by 14 percent for four consecutive months beginning in June, according to Chinese media. The decision follows a steep decline in the company's profits as a result of weaker economic growth across China, reported Caijing, a Beijing-based magazine, citing a notice that BYD sent to its employees... The temporary salary and benefit cuts will save up to 240 million yuan ($38 million). That is a big sum for BYD, whose net profit plunged more than 90 percent to 27 million yuan in the first quarter of this year, the magazine reported. BYD sold 176,796 vehicles in the first five months of this year, down 12 percent from the same period last year, according to LMC Automotive...
* Denmark - Copenhagen is introducing the first full-size pure electric buses from BYD
Copenhagen,Denmark -Busworld -22 July 2012: -- Movia, the largest public transport company in Denmark, and BYD Europe B.V., have announced the introduction of the first full-size pure electric city buses to enter service in Copenhagen, which has set itself an ambitious goal in terms of sustainable mobility: to become the world’s first zero-emission capital by 2025.
The two electric buses provided by BYD will operate on trial service on different passenger-carrying routes with different loads in Copenhagen for two years. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Municipality of Copenhagen, DONG Energy, City-Trafik and Arriva.The BYD electric bus is 12 metres long (40 feet). It is able to run 250 km (155 miles) on a single charge in urban conditions. The Fe battery (Iron Phosphate battery) fitted in the BYD electric bus boasts the highest safety, longest service life and most environmentally-friendly rechargeable chemistry and contains no heavy metals or toxic electrolytes. BYD electric buses are now in regular passenger service in several cities in China, Europe and North America, making BYD the largest electric bus manufacturer in the world, according to the company. The accumulated mileage achieved for BYD electric buses by the end of May 2012 has reached over 7 million kilometers (or 4.35 million miles)...
* Germany - First TÜV RHEINLAND Certified electric city bus exported from China to the EU
Cologne,Germany -Busworld -23 July 2012: -- TÜV Rheinland recently awarded EU Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) to the Jiangsu ALFA Bus Corporation, the first Chinese manufacturer successfully exports electrical inner city bus to Italy in conformity with European standards... At the 2010 Busworld Asia exhibition, the Italian urban passenger vehicle operator LAMA showed great interests in the pure electric bus manufactured by Jiangsu ALFA Bus, and stated its intention to make a sizeable purchase of such vehicles to use in Grosseto, Italy. However, pure electric vehicles cannot be exported to Italy unless they gain an EU WVTA, a very strict form of approvals that the EU Committee ensures member countries implement on whole vehicles, safety components and systems on the basis of EC directives and regulations. TÜV Rheinland carried out the related testing for half a year, certifying 26 system approvals...Labels: busmakers news worldwide
