Los Angeles first electric buses to hit the road in March
The city of Los Angeles will receive the first of a total of 155 electric buses to be delivered over the next two years starting in March. The procurement is part of the Californian city’s plan to fully electrify its bus fleet by the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) had ordered 130 electric buses from BYD, another 25 from Proterra. According to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, the order from BYD is the largest purchase of electric buses in the USA to date.
“The clean transportation revolution is not a distant dream — it’s happening on L.A.’s streets right now,” Garcetti said at an event in a LADOT Budespot, where 70 of the vehicles are to be stationed. “Seeing these zero-emission buses rolling down our roads in the years ahead will bring us one step closer to realizing our vision of cleaner air, lower emissions, healthier communities, and a more sustainable future for all Angelenos.”
To ensure the clean operation of the electric buses, the depot was equipped with, among other things, the charging infrastructure and a solar system. According to the LADOT, it is supposed to be one of the largest electric bus systems in California – which is hardly surprising given the large order.
BYD’s 30-foot (9.14 meter) K7M is a 22-seat bus with a range of 150 miles (about 240 kilometers). The vehicles should be able to be charged in 2.5 to 3 hours. The K7M for Los Angeles will be built in California at BYD’s Lancaster plant. According to the manufacturer, the vehicles exceed the specification that 70 percent of the added value must take place in the USA. There were no details of the vehicles ordered from Proterra in the mayor’s statement.
At the end of November 2019, just a few weeks after the 130 electric buses were ordered from BYD, the ‘Zero Emissions Roadmap 2028 2.0‘ for the Los Angeles area was presented. It outlined the way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by 25 per cent by the 2028 Olympic Games. In addition to electric buses, more private cars are to be converted to electric drives. In the congested metropolis, however, alternative means of transport are also to be strengthened and promoted in order to generally reduce the volume of traffic.
With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.
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