BOGOTÁ, Colombia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In ceremonies that were a part of Colombia’s Green Public Transportation Initiative this week, Coobus and BYD Company Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 260, 12-meter (40-foot), battery-electric buses and a second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Consorcio Express and BYD to promote 18-meter (60-foot) pure-electric bus in Colombia. In attendance at ceremonies were Bogota’s General Secretary Susana Muhamad, BYD Motor’s President Stella Li, Coobus General Manager Mr. Mario Alvarez, Consorcio Express General Manager Mr. Andres Jaramillo, and several high-level Chinese Government officials including Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaoyuan and Communist Party Secretary Mr. Wang Rong.
BYD Motor’s President Stella Li stated, “It’s a great honor for BYD to be part of Bogota’s new energy bus projects. We are the only electric bus than can run all day in city routes without being charged, unlike other electric bus competitors. BYD believes that this new energy bus project is an important partnership between the governments of Bogota and Shenzhen, and we hope to begin accumulating many zero-emission kilometers in Colombia soon.” Coobus General Manager Mr. Mario Alvarez highlighted the significance of the zero-emissions BYD bus in his speech at the ceremony stating, "Operating electric buses is not only to initialize and support new technologies, but also to show our respect to the city and urban residents with our social and environmental responsibility. According to a report from the World Bank in 2012, the economic loss caused by air pollution in Colombia was over 570 million pesos (local currency) every year.”
Mr. Andres Jaramillo, General Manager of Consorcio Express said, “Express will jointly work with BYD to promote pure-electric articulated buses, and the city of Bogota will become the world's first city that will operate the 18-meter (60-foot) electric bus.” Deputy Minister of the Department of the Environment and Sustainability, Dr. Adriana Soto Carreño, offered in a previous release, "We hope other cities would also introduce pure-electric and hybrid-electric vehicles into their public transportation to reduce particulate matter and pollution in the air and improve public health for the whole nation."
MOUs were made possible based on several third party pilots and evaluations of BYD electric buses in Latin America. These authoritative third parties included The Sistemas Sustentables, CCI and ISSRC – all these groups have released positive evaluation reports showing consistently that the BYD electric buses performed as specified. According to Sistemas Sustentables report, the BYD Andino 12’s average efficiency performance in route with passengers was 1.13 km/ kWh (0.88 kWh/ Km equivalent to 1.41 kWh/ mile) – a benchmark in the electric bus industry. In terms of passenger perceived noise and city noise evaluation, the average values obtained were considerably below Colombian standards, 61.44 dB and 66.87dB (the maximum standard in Colombia is 80 dBA). When the bus was stopped, no noise is generated since eBus electric-motors are static (i.e. it does not make noise while idling like a traditional diesel bus internal combustion engines). In October 2012 Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and InterAmerican Development Bank (IABD) conducted the C40 Hybrid & Electric Bus Test Program in Colombia and reported BYD Electric buses had best fuel efficiencies ever recorded for a 40-foot bus.
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About Coobus
Coobus is a comprehensive public transportation operator in Bogota, Colombia. Coobus has almost 900 fleet buses; 66, 27-meter buses, 18, 18-meters bus, 277, 12-meters bus and 535 mini buses. Coobus is exploring new solutions and technologies and plans to extend their bus fleet with 260 BYD pure-electric buses. If the project is fully implemented, Coobus will hire ~3500 new staff, becoming one of the largest operators of BRT systems in Colombia.
About Consorcio Express
Founded in 2012, Consorcio Express is a service provider for the public passenger transport industry. Consorcio Express is a subsidiary of the Express Group which is composed of prominent public passenger transport enterprises and modern transport systems. As one of the largest public transportation operators, Consorcio Express has a fleet with more than 2400 bus.
About BYD
BYD is a publicly-traded company with no Chinese government ownership. In fact, U.S. investors own over 60% of the public stock, with Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway owning 9.9% of that amount. Mr. Buffett and his colleagues recognize BYD's breakthrough battery and EV technologies: an electrified, 24-hour, and long-range battery that provides emission-free, silent, and economic public and private transportation. As the world's largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, BYD's mission is to create safer and more environmentally-friendly battery technologies, and this has produced the BYD Iron Phosphate Battery. This fire-safe, completely recyclable, and incredibly long-cycle technology has become the foundation of BYD's clean energy platforms.