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The world’s only motor show dedicated exclusively to electric vehicles – the International Electric Vehicle Expo (IEVE) – is held annually in South Korea’s Jeju Island, with its third edition starting on March 18, 2016. This year’s IEVE opened with around 120 participants between car and component makers – a sharp increase from last year’s 73 – in a clear display of the growing importance of EVs in the global automotive industry. All the world"s auto behemoths were there to showcase their latest technological achievements, among them BYD Auto as the world’s number one in EV sales in 2015, drawing special attention and raising expectations among participants and public. The company put one of its star products – the BYD K9 pure electric bus – to operate as a shuttle service to the public attending the expo so that they could experience the comfort and silence of an environmentally friendly bus, as well as China’s cutting-edge technological capabilities.
“Carbon-Free Island by 2030” plan, calling for steep increases in vehicle electrification: replacing 10% of the total number of conventional vehicles for EVs by 2017, 30% by 2020 and 100% by 2030. The Government is determined to have major manufacturers market their EVs directly onto the Korean market, thus pushing for a much faster growth in EV ownership. Both Korea and Japan enjoy a privileged global automotive status – out of the five top positions in the global auto sales ranking in 2015, three were held by Japanese and South Korean companies. In early 2015, the BYD electric buses were successfully introduced in Japan, representing a remarkable breakthrough for the Chinese auto industry in 60 years of history. Now BYD brings its electric buses into yet another automotive powerhouse – Korea – further demonstrating its new energy vehicles’ outstanding performance, as well as its leadership in the renewable energy sector.
At the "EV CEO Summit" held as part of IEVE agenda, BYD was the only Chinese new energy auto company to be invited to integrate the discussion panel, talking about the future of the car. During the forum, the BYD Auto Sales Division General Manager for Asia-Pacific, Mr. Liu Xueliang stated that "The ideal electric vehicle energy ecosystem has to be zero emission from beginning to end: the energy has to be generated, stored and used without launching any carbon into the atmosphere. BYD has these three stages in check, with its high technology being deployed to ensure affordable solar power generation, effective energy storage and extremely efficient electrified transportation. We are very excited to cooperate with South Korea"s actions against climate change. "
An important competitive edge for BYD over other EV makers is that its electric transportation solutions have been in actual operation worldwide for over six years, chiefly in public transport: the company’s pure electric buses and taxis are currently running in over 190 cities in 43 countries and regions. Last year, BYD’s expertise and market maturity were specially recognized when the operators of the world’s first fully electrified BRT in Malaysia chose BYD to supply all the 15 buses to run their routes on an unprecedented system running on elevated bus lanes. The Malaysia BRT went into operation in June 2015 and drew a lot of attention around the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Shamsul Rizal, Chief Operating Officer of Rapid Bus Sdn. Bhd, responsible for operating the Malaysia’s BRT Sunway line was invited to this year’s IEVE to share their resounding success case with government officials, sustainability stakeholders and the general public.