BYD to provide LAX with US largest airfield fleet of all-electric buses

LOS ANGELES - Chinese electric automaker BYD will supply Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with 20 all-electric buses for airfield passenger transportation, which make up the largest airport fleet of its kind in the United States.

The 60-foot articulated buses being delivered are battery-electric and will be produced at the BYD Lancaster plant in Southern California, said BYD in a statement released on Thursday.

The buses have an approximate range of 250 miles on a single charge and capacity for up to 120 passengers, depending on their configuration. The fleet is projected to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions from 308 metric tons of greenhouse gases to zero, or the equivalent to saving over 34,000 gallons of gasoline or removing 66 conventional passenger vehicles from the road for an entire year, according to BYD.

LAX's bus operations transported over 2.4 million passengers on more than 53,000 trips in 2017.

The selection of BYD to supply the vehicles was a result of the need of the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the airport's parent entity, to take advantage of the latest technological developments in clean transportation.

The acquisition of the fleet was approved at a recent meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, as a move for LAX to comply with LA's "Sustainable City pLAn," an initiative by Mayor Eric Garcetti to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions to 45 percent below the 1990 baseline levels by 2025.

"We are proud to provide LAX with 20 California-made electric transit buses, which will provide cleaner air and help create healthier communities," said Macy Neshati, Senior Vice President of BYD Heavy Industries.

"With the introduction of these new electric buses, LAX will have the largest fleet of electric airfield buses at an airport in the United States, transporting us to a cleaner and quieter future for buses," said Michael Christensen, LAWA's Deputy Executive Director for Facilities Maintenance and Utilities Group, in the statement.

"These buses are smart for both the environment and our bottom line, and we're excited to start rolling them out in the coming year," Christensen added.

BYD is the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, as well as the largest electric bus maker in North America.