BYD has entered a new market for its pure electric ebuses — in the south of Europe Portugal joins Spain as an operator of the proven BYD ebus.
The Coimbra Municipal Public Transportation Service, SMTUC, has placed an order for eight pure electric 12 metre BYD buses. The contract for this order was signed today by Manuel Augusto Soares Machado, President of the Coimbra Municipality, and Isbrand Ho, managing director of BYD Europe, in Coimbra — a city north of the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
It is the first purchase order in Portugal for BYD’s pure electric buses and follows a successful test by SMTUC of a BYD 12 metre ebus last year. With the confirmation of this order for Portugal, BYD is expanding its European presence to 10 countries and now has more than over 400 orders for its electric buses in Europe.
The ebuses will service several routes in the city center of Coimbra, becoming the city’s first fleet of 12 meter pure electric buses. Delivery of the eight vehicles is planned in the beginning of 2019.
Manuel Augusto Soares Machado, president of the Coimbra Municipality: “I am honored to announce that these BYD buses are the first full size 12 metre pure electric buses in the one hundred year history of SMTUC. I am also happy to announce that new tenders are being prepared to reinforce electric public transportation in Coimbra.”
Isbrand Ho, managing director at BYD Europe: “We are delighted to be able to add this important market, Portugal, to our client portfolio. From north to south Europe, we have become a competitive player across the Continent covering all the climatic conditions from the cold north of Scandinavia to the heat of Italy, Spain and now Portugal, not forgetting the more moderate conditions of Benelux and the UK. The results of the tests with our ebus here were promising and we are confident that our ebuses can deliver reliable and safe services and help to improve air quality — whatever the weather!”