BYD to deliver electric school buses to AVSTA, California
BYD and the Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency (AVSTA) plan to bring 20 battery-electric school buses to students in the Antelope Valley. This could help AVSTA to become the first school transport provider in California to operate a complete fleet of zero-emission school buses.
BYD is well-established in the region through its bus factory in Lancaster, CA. The Chinese company also supplies the Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA), which has already become an all-electric transportation company, as reported.
As for the 20 new school buses, BYD will build the buses at the BYD Coach & Bus facility by members of the SMART Union.
“It’s great to see our community take advantage of funding out there for electric school buses,” BYD Senior Vice President Patrick Duan said. “This agreement puts the community on the road to being the nation’s first region with fully electric transit and school buses. We are proud of our close partnerships here.”
BYD School buses are eligible for federal and state purchase incentives offered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
The company did not mention the contract value.
Regarding technology, the press picture suggests that AVSTA will receive the BYD Type D Battery Electric School Bus. It has a top speed of 65 miles per hour and a range of up to 155 miles. It can be charged in as little as 3 hours and seats up to 84 pupils.
BYD also has a smaller school bus on offer. ‘Type A’, presented in January, includes bi-directional charging and comes in lengths of 22.9, 24.5 and 26.7 feet (7 to 8.1 meters) for up to 30 students. The Type D is between 10.7 and 12.1 meters (33 and 12 feet) long.
AVSTA CEO Morris Fuselier III said this was “the beginning of our effort to build the largest electric school bus fleet in the state that will provide clean, efficient transportation to our students while protecting the clean, fresh air and blue skies of our home, the Antelope Valley.”
The Antelope Valley is in the north of Los Angles County and is part Mojave desert.
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