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BYD has secured its first major pure electric bus order in Israel. A fleet of 17 single deck 12m buses will service the northern port city of Haifa, Israel’s third largest city. The buses will be operated by Egged, with almost 3.000 buses Israel’s largest bus operator.
The buses were purchased after BYD won a competitive tender process. The success follows trials of a BYD single decker which has been operating in Tel Aviv, Israel’s second largest city, since 2013. In Haifa, the new fleet is expected to cover 200km per bus per day.
Significantly, Egged’s Purchasing Manager Nir Landau said at a launch ceremony this week that the operator expected to order a further pure electric buses from BYD in the next 18 months to raise the proportion of ebuses in the Haifa fleet to 10 percent.
Ze’ev Elkin, Israel’s minister of Environmental Protection, said: “It’s the beginning of a revolution in the Haifa area which aims to reduce pollution coming from public transportation through the planned investment of 400 million Shekels ($121.51 million)”.
Yisrael Katz, minister of Transport, said: “These buses are just the beginning. We aim to introduce green transportation in the Haifa area and around the country."
Isbrand Ho, managing director of BYD Europe, commented: “This is a very significant development for BYD – a new country for us which recognizes the strength of the BYD product. And it’s important to note that it’s the good experience over four years of our trial bus in Tel Aviv that led to this week’s announcement. The proven technology following our existing orders and extensive trials program will lead us to further sales success in many of the cities in our region that are only now implementing the green transportation that we see in Haifa."