Beginning in March of 2014 there will be two new faces on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In an effort to introduce non-polluting transportation solutions for the people of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo Transit (SPTrans) has partnered with BYD Co. Ltd.
Public transportation plays a key role in São Paulo commerce. São Paulo has one of the largest bus systems in South America with a fleet of over 16,000 buses run by SPTrans. BYD Motors (the Americas’ entity) will be delivering two new buses to the city for revenue service in first quarter 2014. With Brazil sponsoring the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games, they are gearing up to be one of the world’s most sought-after venues.
Sao Paulo Transit has completed a successful pilot program conducted by the city which concluded that the battery-electric bus was effective on over 80 percent of routes currently in operation. With an overnight charge (conducted off-peak), the bus was found to have an average of 250 kilometers in operational service. "Our tests were designed to demonstrate the performance of the e-bus running on the streets of Sao Paulo, such as its braking performance and so on. The electric bus was filled with a weight equivalent to a full load of passengers and run on bus lanes and other designed lines in Sao Paulo,” said João Carlos Fagundes, SP Transit engineering division manager.
The same BYD bus design has successfully completed similar pilot programs world-wide.
