BYD-ADL is expanding to Australia
The electric bus partnership between Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD, previously active in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, is expanding to Australia. This is made possible by an agreement with the Australian company Nexport.
Nexport builds and supplies electric buses in Australia, as previously reported also in cooperation with BYD – but until now with delivery from the Chinese plants. According to the new agreement, Nexport will in future assemble bodies for electric buses of Alexander Dennis’ Enviro family with BYD chassis for the Australian market.
The aim is to provide bus types that are not currently available to operators in Australia. These include a 9.7-metre electric city bus, as well as 11.6-metre and 12.5-metre models. The first of these electric buses are expected to be on Australia’s roads in early 2022, with series production starting by the end of 2022.
“We continue to look for innovative ways to lead the evolution to zero-emission mobility around the world and this strategic partnership between ADL and Nexport will help further support that evolution in the southern hemisphere,” says Paul Soubry, CEO of ADL owner NFI. ADL Managing Director Paul Davies added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Nexport in the Australian market as we believe that our globally renowned buses can help deliver the country’s decarbonisation agenda.”
BYD-ADL’s best-known model, the Enviro400EV electric double-decker bus, is not mentioned in the announcement for Australia. In total, more than 1,000 battery-electric buses have been delivered and ordered by BYD-ADL, according to the release.
Cooperation partner Nexport sees the agreement as “another significant boost” for the renaissance of Australian manufacturing. “We are delighted to partner with Alexander Dennis who have been extremely progressive in the zero-emission bus space globally,” said Michel van Maanen, CEO of Nexport. “For Nexport to be able to partner with such a strong global company, further demonstrates our business objective to bring the world’s best zero-emission mobility technology to our shores and manufacturing the products locally, by Australians.”
1 Comment