BYD announced on Monday that it had gained official permission to sell its electric buses in all European Union member states without the need for individual national approval.
The “Whole Vehicle Type Approval” granted by EU came weeks after BYD announced its plan to build electric buses in Bulgaria with a local partner.
By obtaining this approval the Chinese electric automaker has taken ‘another significant step’ for its electric bus business. It will help ensure the successful implementation of BYD’s business plan for its electric buses in EU countries this year.
BYD has been promoting its electric vehicles in the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Canada, Uruguay and the United States among others.
The BYD-Bulmineral joint venture in Bulgaria, named Auto Group Motors, is the first electric bus joint venture in Europe and the first overseas electric vehicle joint venture for BYD.
The 12-meter long BYD electric bus is able to run 250 km (155 miles) on a single charge in urban conditions. This allows a travelling range that is sufficient for one whole shift in most cities. The core technology of BYD electric buses is BYD’s self-developed Iron-Phosphate battery technology boasting the highest safety, longest service life and most environmentally-friendly rechargeable chemistry. It also contains no heavy metals or toxic electrolytes. The accumulated mileage of BYD electric buses in Shenzhen, China alone has surpassed 11.81 million kilometers (or 7.33 million miles) by the end of November 2012.
