Finland to receive 106 electric buses from BYD

BYD is expanding its electric buses to Finland for the first time with a significant order. The operator Nobina has ordered a total of 106 electric buses from BYD, 64 of which are destined for the capital Helsinki and 42 for the city of Turku, including a new model from the Chinese manufacturer.

+ + Kindly see our update below + +

Nobina was the first public transport operator to opt for BYD’s new 15-meter low-floor model, at least for the 42 vehicles for Turku. In most European markets there is a demand for 12-meter buses with two axles or even shorter models. If larger buses with more passenger capacity are required, operators often opt for 18-meter articulated buses. This is different in Scandinavia, where the 15-meter three-axle buses (without articulation) are also in demand.

Despite only regional demand, the market is so large that BYD is not the only company to include a corresponding 15-meter model in its range. The Polish manufacturer Solaris also announced such a model for Scandinavia in January with the Urbino 15 LE electric. BYD says that its 15-metre bus has a seating capacity of 47+3 seats and a range of 400 kilometres under SORT-2 test conditions.

In Helsinki, the order includes 20 12-meter buses and 44 units of the 18-meter electric articulated bus. For Helsinki, BYD speaks only of deliveries from 2021, while the 42 vehicles in Turku will already be put into operation by Nobina in the summer of 2021.

“The Nordic region leads the rest of Europe in the adoption of electrification,” says Isbrand Ho, Managing Director of BYD Europe. “providing evidence that electric mobility delivers tangible operational benefits for Public Transport Operators, alongside safe, quiet and comfortable local journeys for passengers”.

However, with Turku and Helsinki, BYD’s electric buses are only used in Southern Finland. The two-port cities are located at approximately the same northern latitude as Oslo. In 2021, BYD will also deliver some electric buses to the Swedish town of Piteå, which is close to the Arctic Circle. In the same year, competitor Volvo Buses will deliver 31 electric buses to the Norwegian city of Bodø, a few kilometres further north in the Arctic Circle.

Update 1 June 2021:

BYD has now handed over 43 electric buses to operator Nobina in Finland. The 15-meter buses will be put into operation in the city of Turku on the southwest coast of Finland and are part of a larger order from last year (see above). 76 more BYD electric buses for the Helsinki region will be delivered to Nobina in mid-August.

With the 119 e-buses now mentioned by BYD, the order has been significantly increased since it was awarded – in 2020 there was still talk of 106 electric buses. Now Turku will get one more bus, while Helsinki gains twelve additional vehicles. Until now, it was said that 20 12-meter buses and 44 18-meter articulated buses were planned for the Finnish capital. Now BYD says that 15-meter buses (as in Turku) will be delivered to Helsinki, but also 12-meter buses, the 13-meter model and also 18-meter articulated buses while the exact distribution between the models has not been mentioned.

bydeurope.com, bydeurope.com (update)