BYD revolutionizes electric school buses with bidirectional charging

BYD, the leading Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles, has presented a new battery e-bus project with really interesting features and performances that aim to reduce the CO2 footprint, even in schools.

Founded in February 1995 and, after more than 20 years of rapid growth, the Chinese company has created over 30 industrial parks around the world and has played a significant role in the sectors related to electronics, automotive and rail transit.

Not surprisingly, the Chinese company has made safety the top priority in the design of school buses, including features such as electronic stability control, a collision avoidance system and a 360-degree monitoring system to detect pedestrians and cyclists even when the bus is moving at low speeds. BYD is gradually entering the electric bus sector in several countries and, with the new project, aims to reduce CO2 emissions while offering excellent performance. With a length of 12.1 meters, the vehicle offers space for up to 84 students and, thanks to a lithium iron phosphate battery, is able to guarantee up to 249 kilometers of autonomy.

is inevitably its bi-directional charging capacity for intelligent use of the battery: the school bus absorbs and releases energy according to needs. Energy can in fact be temporarily accumulated during the night when the vehicle is not used and subsequently sold according to the needs of the school.

We are raising the bar for design, innovation, range and quality, to give parents the peace of mind that their children are benefiting from the safer school bus, said Stella Li, President of BYD North America.

At the same time, our buses will offer operators the performance and cost savings that will make the transition to zero-emission technology cost-effective and practical. From the start, our team has focused on many key features. We believed that the "Type D" electric bus needed to be attractive to children, while offering the highest safety features and driver ergonomics, be equipped with a safe and high-performance battery and have a lots of storage capacity for road trips. The BYD school bus achieves all of these goals, added Samuel Kang, Head of Total Technology Solutions at BYD.

It goes without saying that BYD's announcement comes at a very opportune time, when the US government has prioritized electrification of school bus fleets and the Canadian province of Québec is aiming to electrify most school buses by 2030. Electric school buses are likely to be built at the Canadian assembly plant that BYD opened in 2019 in Newmarket, according to the Chinese company, although it is not yet known when and where they could debut.

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