Skip to main content

Uruguay launches first ''zero emissions'' electric buses

Uruguay transit companies BUQUEBUS and CTS Auto have partnered with Chinese vehicle manufacturer, BYD to provide the first twelve metre rapid transit bus powered only by electricity in Uruguay and the region. The BYD electric bus integrates several technologies including two in-wheel electric motors capable of a cruising speed over 88 km/h and what it said to be the first of its kind, an environmentally-friendly iron-phosphate battery. This drive system provides a range of over 250 km (155 miles) – nearly t
May 23, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Uruguay transit companies BUQUEBUS and CTS Auto have partnered with Chinese vehicle manufacturer, 5445 BYD to provide the first twelve metre rapid transit bus powered only by electricity in Uruguay and the region.

The BYD electric bus integrates several technologies including two in-wheel electric motors capable of a cruising speed over 88 km/h and what it said to be the first of its kind, an environmentally-friendly iron-phosphate battery. This drive system provides a range of over 250 km (155 miles) – nearly twenty-four hours of service daily for most transit applications. The BYD battery technology also allows for a full charge in less than five hours. The bus can be charged overnight, while the electricity pricing is lower.

The rechargeable battery system and electric motors developed by BYD engineers offer significant savings in both energy consumption and environmental pollution. The in-wheel-hub motors mean the BYD electric bus has the lowest floor of any bus, enabling easy access for people with reduced mobility, wheelchairs and baby strollers. The buses to be used in Uruguay are to be used on the tourist bus routes in the city of Colonia, although several long-distance BYD buses will shortly be deployed on urban transport routes.

Related Content

  • April 16, 2020
    Hyperloop: from sci-fi to transport policy
    The future is here. While it has long looked like something from a sci-fi movie, Graham Anderson investigates a technology whose time might have come.
  • February 1, 2012
    Prospects for intercity transport technology
    Magnetic levitation has been dismissed as unproven, too costly, or pie in the sky. It's time to reappraise it. With the unveiling by China (see News section, page 10) of its own, home-grown magnetic levitation train, it would be odd if politicians, policy-makers and the ITS industry did not want to take a closer look at the 'unproven' technology that is magnetic levitation. Fortunately, doing so is easy. The non-profit International Society for Maglev Transportation (The International Maglev Board) has an e
  • February 6, 2012
    Prospects for intercity transport technology
    Magnetic levitation has been dismissed as unproven, too costly, or pie in the sky. It's time to reappraise it
  • February 3, 2012
    Is DSRC progressive enough for future connected mobility?
    Dedicated Short Range Communications technology, says Cisco's Paul Brubaker, is not by itself progressive enough to sustain long-term innovation in the connected mobility environment - and yet IPv6 and other developments remain largely ignored by policy-makers