Chinese electric buses for Madrid

On Friday, 8 May 2020, the first of the 15 new electric buses of the Madrid transport company EMT (Empresa Municipal de Transporte) started the regular service. Without any celebration – in times of Corona Virus – the shiny, brandnew ebus no. 701 took up service on city route 52.

The use of the 15 new products from the Chinese manufacturer BYD will be extended to other lines of the extensive network soon. All ebuses have their home base at the Fuencarral bus depot, located on the site of the former main tramway workshop, together with the 35 electric buses from Irizar (see:  https://www.urban-transport-magazine.com/en/new-irizar-e-buses-for-emt-madrid/).

And like these before, the new buses rely on overnight charging at the depot, no opportunity charging stations via pantographs have been installed in the city. The buses had arrived in Spain’s capital city already some weeks ago, but it is no surprise, that the lockout and the sharp restriction for public life in the country prevented the official start of operation.

BYD’s new ebuses are 12.2 m long, have two entrance doors and offer 27 seats and 55 standing places. However, due to the ongoing restrictions, the buses are currently only licensed for a total of 34 passengers. Iron-phosphate batteries with a capacity of 348kW allow a range of well over 200 km – charging time via plug-in at EMT’s premises is 4-5 hours.

The EMT plans to tender for another 50 buses later this year.