You
are definitely living under a rock if you haven’t heard that many
cities in China are suffering from record-breaking pollution levels. If
you’re a hardcore regular of CleanTechnica, you also know that electric buses have been selling like hotcakes in China.
The EV-loving city Shenzhen is taking it one step further. In Shenzhen,
electric buses will make up all public bus transportation by the end of
this year, primarily BYD electric buses.Shenzhen Bus Fleet to Go Electric by End of 2017
There’s no denying that switching an
entire public transportation bus fleet to electricity can drastically
curb pollutants and respiratory complications. The city of Shenzhen sees
the light, coming to the conclusion that human lives matter more than
foreign oil company profits.
One more thing to note: Shenzhen has
been working toward this goal for a while. It already has 14,000
electric buses on the street, with only has a few hundred diesel-powered
buses left to replace. They will be decommissioned over the last two
months of the year. BYD is in charge of providing 80% of the electric buses for the city. It is also heavily vested in electric vehicles (EV), leads the world-leading Chinese EV market,
and has introduced its electric bus all over the world, including in
Long Beach, California, where we were privileged enough to take its maiden ride.
BYD started the Shenzhen pilot test in
2011. In six years, the giant city (population 11.9 million) managed to
implement a complete switch. So, what is taking us so long in the West?
A Global Call to Switch to Electricity
China isn’t the only country ditching
diesel and CNG. France and Great Britain have vowed to end sales of
gasoline and diesel cars by 2040. Although, that is still a very long
time away. Norway set the target even closer at 2025. These countries
are eager to reclaim a cleaner urban environment and are seen as global
leaders. But have you heard of any other major cities switching 100% to
electric buses in the next few years?
Numbers speak for themselves. China has
to clean up its air pollution situation. The country is the largest
emitter of greenhouse gases. Vehicles sold in China emitted 44.7 million
tonnes of pollutants in 2016, according to the World Health
Organization. The Ministry of Environmental Protection says going
electric is the only feasible and practical solution.
To the latest rash of naysayers claiming that EVs pollute more than
internal combustion engines, it is far easier to curb pollution at power
stations than to do it on every single car exhaust pipe. Further, even
today, electric vehicles are cleaner.
BYD & Shenzhen on the Electric Bus Lane
BYD, which stands for “build your
dreams,” is indeed building its dream — after all, it produces 80% of
this giant city’s electric buses. The company is also headquartered in
the city (as you might have guessed … or known) and has been producing
batteries since 1995. It started manufacturing “new energy vehicles”
(NEVs) in 2003. Beijing considers hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEV), and
pure EVs as NEVs.
BYD’s first electric bus started in 2011
and used a lot of space for its batteries, encumbering on its passenger
capacity. But battery energy density and the overall technology has
matured enough to allow electric buses to carry the load of a
conventional diesel bus while making them more affordable to operate
over their lifespan — much more affordable, according to some
spreadsheets CleanTechnica has seen.
What really helped both BYD and the city
of Shenzhen is when local authorities issued a list of policies to push
for the development of NEVs — “Made In China 2025.” The plan boosted
the country’s EV manufacturing output, with EVs singled out as one of 10
key sectors the government would help.
Lessons Learned from the BYD & Shenzhen Electric Bus Switch
One thing is for certain about China —
it can quickly implement projects and pilot programs efficiently. This
is something the West could only dream to achieve in such a short amount
of time. While we are hopelessly lost in politics and endless debates
that more often go nowhere, China has proven yet again it can get things
done quickly, leaving us to our own unproductive infighting.
BYD (and some others) switching the city
of Shenzhen’s bus fleet to electricity is something we would like to
see happening everywhere — sooner than later, but preferably sooner.
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/12/100-electric-bus-fleet-shenzhen-pop-11-9-million-end-2017/
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario