The Bogota City Government and the Bogota City Public Transport Authority (TRANSMILENIO S.A) in Colombia held a grand launch and delivery ceremony for the first batch of 120 pure electric buses out of a much larger order of total of 470. This first batch will start revenue service on 9 bus routes across the city by TRANSMILENIO S.A on December 26, 2020. The remaining 350 units will be put on the other 30 routes during the first quarter of 2021, by which time a total of approximately 300,000 passengers can enjoy the zero-emission bus service.
Also supporting the bus fleet is a large charging station located in the Fontibon district of Bogota, which is equipped with 56 double-gun electric chargers with a power of 150KW. The construction of the charging station, the installation of the chargers and the power supply are handled by Codensa, a joint venture established by ENEL, an Italian power grid company and the Bogota Energy Group. When the buses and charging stations are officially put into operation, it is estimated that more than 400 job opportunities will be created for the local communities, including drivers, logistics and maintenance personnel.
The 120 buses include 12-meter and 9-meter models, with a passenger capacity of 80 and 50 people respectively. They take 1.5 to 2.5 hours to fully charge, with a cruising range that exceeds 300 kilometers on a single charge, which can easily meet the buses’ daily operating mileage of 260 kilometers. Compared with diesel buses, BYD’s pure electric bus fleet will save 12,500 tons of carbon dioxide and 2.5 tons of dust particles from being emitted every year.
Each bus comes equipped with a driver safety cabin, TV, WIFI, security cameras, intelligent transport control system, mobile phone charging USB interfaces, access platform for people with disabilities, and other people-centric features.
