BYD UK and NFI subsidiary Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) announced on Friday that their electric vehicle partnership has delivered its 1,000th zero-emission bus. ADL is a global leader in the design and manufacture of double deck buses and is also the UK’s largest bus and coach manufacturer.
The companies started the partnership in 2015 and delivered 500 electric buses in five years, although, it only took one year to deliver the 1,000th.
The BYD ADL Enviro400EV double decker was part-funded by the Scottish Government and handed over to Stagecoach Bluebird in Aberdeen during Scottish Bus Week in the presence of the Scottish Government’s Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work.
This bus is the last of a fleet of 22 BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deck buses that Stagecoach bought for services in Aberdeen with financial support from the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme.
Stagecoach has since confirmed an order for an additional 13 electric buses of the same type for Aberdeen following the award of funding through the Scottish Government’s follow-on scheme, the Zero-Emission Bus Challenge Fund.
At an event during the inaugural Scottish Bus Week, Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work, Richard Lochhead MSP, joined ADL’s National Account Manager Marie Connell in handing over the anniversary bus to Stagecoach Bluebird Managing Director, Peter Knight, before touring the newly installed EV charging hub at Stagecoach’s Aberdeen Tullos Depot.
Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work, Richard Lochhead said: “I’m really pleased to witness the 1000th electric bus manufactured by ADL – a great example of successful collaboration between Scottish operators and manufacturers, supported by Scottish Government funding. Through the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Scheme, we’ve supported the introduction of 22 new electric buses here in Aberdeen for Stagecoach Bluebird. Alongside free travel for under-22s and over half a billion pounds in long term funding for bus priority infrastructure, we’re putting buses at the heart of Scotland’s just transition to net-zero by helping people choose to travel more sustainably. We can only achieve that transition by working together.”
Marie Connell, National Account Manager at ADL, said: “This milestone demonstrates the incredible pace at which the transition to zero-emission mobility is now happening thanks to bus companies’ drive for innovation and Government support. With 1000 electric buses now on the road, our customers benefit from the BYD ADL partnership’s unrivalled experience. Stagecoach’s new order for another 13 of these electric double deckers will further extend the benefits as passengers will enjoy a smooth and quiet ride and the people of Aberdeen will breathe cleaner air.”
Peter Knight, Managing Director for Stagecoach Bluebird, said: “We are all really excited to be sharing BYD ADL’s celebration of delivering its 1000th fully electric bus. Introducing these new vehicles reflects the investment both we and Scottish Government are making thanks to the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme and the funding made available to support the delivery of the new buses. There has never been a more important time to take action to address the climate emergency and play a part in helping Scotland deliver on its net zero ambitions whilst improving local air quality in Aberdeen. The introduction of these 22 new fully electric buses on our bus routes in Aberdeen reflect our commitment to creating a greener, smarter, safer and healthier country and at the same time will deliver major benefits for the region and our customers.”
NFI is a leader in zero-emission mobility, with electric vehicles operating (or on order) in more than 80 cities in six countries. NFI offers the widest range of zero-emission battery and fuel cell-electric buses and coaches, and its vehicles have completed over 65 million EV service miles.
BYD announced on April 2 that will stop to produce oil-fuel vehicles. The Warren Buffett-backed company quadrupled its deliveries with a total of 106,658 New energy vehicles: 54,684 BEV and 51,434 PHEV units. The result represents an increase of 416.96% when compared to March 2021.
Recently, the company announced that it is building its next-generation fleets on the NVIDIA’S DRIVE Hyperion architecture. This platform, based on DRIVE Orin, is now in production, and powering a wide ecosystem of 25 EV makers building software-defined vehicles on high-performance, energy-efficient AI compute. The open DRIVE Hyperion 8 platform allows these companies to individualize this programmable architecture to their needs, leveraging end-to-end solutions to accelerate autonomous driving development.