Frankfurt 'enters new territory' with electric buses

China’s BYD Company Limited has inked a deal to supply the city of Frankfurt, Germany, with its all-electric, long-range, eBUS.

BYD will supply three all-electric buses eBUS-12, two DC charging stations and technical support in the first quarter of 2012. The electric buses will be used as shuttles to Frankfurt’s airport and on public transportation routes to the city’s Gateway Gardens.

“The electric bus project is an excellent example of the many different types of applications of electric vehicles in urban traffic,” said Frank Markus, the city’s economic affairs officer. “With the use of electric buses, we are actually entering a new territory which will bring enormous benefits for the public transportation with less costs and less emissions.”

At the core of the eBUS technology are BYD’s iron phosphate or “Fe” battery technologies. Integrating the “Fe” battery, the eBUS can travel up to 150 miles (250 kilometers) per charge. The vehicle has been used in Shenzhen and Changsha, China, fleets for several months now and 200 more units are to be delivered to the Universiade Shenzhen by August 2011.