deputy mayor of london for transport val shawcross inaugurated europe's largest fleet of electric buses on friday, which were built in britain through a partnership between the shenzhen-based new-energy automobile manufacturer byd and the british bus building company alexander dennis limited (adl).
the 51 buses will be operated by london bus operator go ahead from its waterloo garage, servicing two transport for london (tfl) routes: route 507, which connects waterloo with victoria, and route 521, linking waterloo and london bridge.
according to tfl figures, roughly 7 million passengers use buses on the two routes every year. the 12-meter enviro200ev buses combine the battery and electric technology of byd with the design and manufacturing expertise of adl.
mayor of london sadiq khan said, “the transformation of london's bus fleet will play a key role in making our transport cleaner and healthier."
isbrand ho, managing director of byd europe, said, "today is the culmination of several years of hard work, and we are delighted to be here with our partners tfl, go-ahead and adl, inaugurating europe's largest electric bus fleet."
colin robertson, ceo of adl, said: "these world-class vehicles are a product of partnership — in collaborating with byd, our shared vision has been to provide an electric vehicle solution which responds to all of our customers' needs."
byd and adl are at the forefront of a revolution that will bring electric buses to the streets of british cities. with 10,000 full size electric buses already produced, byd boasts advanced, safe and long-range iron-phosphate battery technology. adl is britain's largest manufacturer in the midi bus sector.
in britain, aside from the 51 buses launched in london on friday, byd is trialing the world's first pure electric double deckers — five are in service with london operator metroline on behalf of tfl, and future versions will be built in partnership with adl.
