BYD Plans to Increase Sales of Electric Buses in Japan

BYD, a major Chinese EV manufacturer, unveiled a new range of electric buses for commercial use in Tokyo on Tuesday. The news was reported by NHK, a Japanese public media outlet, on Wednesday. The company will introduce two new models for the Japanese market next year, including one that has 10% more cruising range on a single charge than its predecessor.

BYD has set a sales target of 4,000 electric buses in Japan by 2030. However, competition between Japanese and overseas manufacturers has been heating up in the business-use EV sector in recent years. Japan’s Isuzu Motors and Hino Motors are the latest firms to enter the field and have announced a plan to jointly build electric buses starting in 2024.

As a new energy vehicle brand, BYD has spent some time manufacturing and marketing electric buses. The company announced in April that the total mileage of its buses has exceeded 10 billion kilometers, among which the maximum mileage of pure electric buses has exceeded 640,000 kilometers, setting a new record.

BYD entered the Japanese market in 2015 and has quickly made inroads. The company now produces more than 70% of the electric buses sold in the country. Hanada Shinsaku, Executive Vice President of BYD Japan, spoke about the deployment of the company’s vehicles in the country, stating, “The sales goal by 2030 should not be difficult to reach as transportation operators are increasingly aware of the need to shift to electric.” he added, “We are doing what we can to help Japan achieve carbon neutrality.

The globalization of BYD’s electric buses has been progressing smoothly. At the beginning of February this year, BYD’s first batch of 30 e6 electric buses were delivered in India priced at 2.96 million rupees ($38,184). The vehicles are mainly being used for online car-hailing.

Also in February, BYD announced the delivery of 29 new pure electric double-decker buses built by BYD and British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis (ADL). The buses were delivered to Abellio, the operator of the fleet of vehicles.

SEE ALSO: BYD Delivers 29 Electric Double-Decker Buses to Abellio London