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On Dec. 1, the first electric bus route in Fujian officially kicked off its operation. In the morning, a bus fleet comprised of 30 units electric buses were lined up at Qi"anBus Station in Fuzhou, ushering the new era of zero-emission public transport in the provincial capital of Fujian.
Feature No.1 Spacious Interior, Zero Emission and Low Noise Level
On its first day of operation, enthusiastic Fuzhou citizens, together with journalists from various media witnessed the exciting moment. Measuring 11.3 meters in length, the eco-friendly bus has added even more seats at the back of the vehicle which was usually the place for the electric motor cabin. Taking the practical needs of the bus route, the vehicle has 20 seats with ample space for standing passengers.
In addition, the vehicle has six cameras mounted inside as well as in front and at the back. It is revealed that the camera in the front can take images within five meters in front of the vehicle. Thus, it can better monitor the road conditions ahead. It is also worth mentioning that a new cache system has been added to the vehicle mounted wifi system, which functions as "cloud service".
Feature No. 2: Energy consumption costs can be halved
Compared with diesel powered vehicle, the electric one can cut fuel consumption by half. It is put into operation on Bus Route No. 126 with a one-way distance of 22.4 km. Moreover, it boasts a continuous driving capacity of 130 km and battery energy loading capacity of 138 kilowatt-hour. According to a person-in-charge from Golden Dragon, "the vehicle only consumes electric power of one kilowat-hour when the air-conditioning system is off and only 1.4 kilowatt-hour when it is on. In general, it only costs 1.5 RMB for driving one kilometer." In the past, the route had diesel powered buses, which cost 2.7 RMB per kilometer. For this, for a two-way drive with a distance about 45 km, the current electric bus only costs 67.5 RMB, which is nearly half the costs for diesel powered bus, which stand at 121.5 RMB.
Feature No. 3: Fully Insulated Power Recharging Stations
The power recharging has always been a big concern for the public. To ensure the safe and effient recharging process, Qi"an Bus Station is found to have built 15 power recharging posts, which look quite similar to normal gas engines. In addition, the electric bus has its recharging device designed at the same position of the oil filler of a normal bus.
It is also learnt that the electric bus will get recharged after two-way travel on the bus route in the daytime and the recharging usually can be finished within an hour. At night, the recharging process is fulfilled in a more slowly manner. A staff told our reporter that the vehicle consumes about 90 kilowatt-hours of electricity for two-way travel. Thus, the energy loading capacity of the batteries is more than sufficient for its operation.
Feature No. 4: Mature and Well-known Electric Bus Manufacturer
The first batch of 60 units electric buses are all produced by Golden Dragon. To fully prepare for the smooth operation of the green vehicles, staff from the Golden Dragon have paid several special visits to the bus route and collected such data as slopes, flyovers and traffic lights. They also have made thorough analysis to match the vehicle system with the practical operation requirements of the bus routes so as to make sure the highest efficiency of the vehicle.
Peng Dongqing, Deputy General Manager of Golden Dragon, who attended the delivery ceremony for the electric buses, points out, "As a bus maker based in Fujian, Golden Dragon shares the responsibilities for the building of environmentally friendly public transport system across the whole province. To date, the company has accumulated rich experience in manufacturing electric buses and has mastered the key technologies in this field. We are now fully committed to meeting our customers practical needs and promoting our electric buses to them. In the meantime, we are sparing no efforts to make innovations to achieve higher power efficiency of our electric buses."
According to sources, Fuzhou city started the new energy vehicle replacement drive in 2011. Nowadays, its new energy vehicles are making the majority of its bus fleet. After putting 60 units of electric buses on No. 126 and No. 117 bus routes, another batch of 40 units plug-in hybrid buses will soon be put into official operation.