BYD Motors Inc., American manufacturing company backed by Warren Buffet, announced on April 17 that its electric bus has been approved for sale in Canada.
The BYD Electric Transit Bus earned the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Certification and is being placed on the “Vehicle Manufacturers Registry” with Transport Canada.
Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards prescribes the minimum performance levels that vehicles and equipment must meet to run on Canadian roads and includes several standards beyond the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
The bus can drive up to 155 miles and up to 30 hours in heavy city traffic on a single night-time charge. The bus has completed more than 20 million kilometers of “in revenue service” and has been evaluated in many major cities all over the world.
The no-emission bus features environmentally-friendly Iron-Phosphate (or “Fe”) batteries, which are fire-safe, non-toxic and contain no caustic materials, no toxic electrolytes or heavy metals and can be completely recycled. The bus also has in-wheel hub motors and regenerative braking.
BYD Motors established its headquarters in downtown Los Angeles in October 2011 and has now hired over 60 Americans to support BYD Electric Bus and Energy Module factories in Lancaster, California which will be delivering their first electric buses at the end of the month.
There are also over 25 American research and development and sales support personnel at the Los Angeles headquarters. BYD expects to create 100 new jobs by the end of this year, with 200 by the end of next year all devoted to building BYD's electric buses, utility fleet delivery vehicles and taxis/
BYD Motors Inc. is wholly-owned subsidiary of BYD Company Ltd, the largest domestic auto-manufacturer and electric-bus manufacturer in China. BYD is a publicly traded company, with the Hong Kong listed stock 60% of which is owned by U.S. investors, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as the largest single shareholder at 9.9%.