In March 2021, Scottish-based bus builder Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and Chinese owned BYD (UK) jointly announced that their electric vehicle partnership will manufacture electric single and double deck buses in Scotland for the British market.
ADL is the UK’s leading electric bus producer, having manufactured buses since in 1904. Joint production commenced in the second half of 2021. In the period 2015-2021 more than 70% of electric buses introduced in Britain in this period were supplied by the BYD-ADL partnership.
Since it began in 2015, the partnership has gone from strength to strength, and had become one of the Europe’s fastest growing bus and coach builder. The partnership supplies electric buses for operators in the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.
The BYD-ADL partnership has clocked up a combined over 16 million emission-free miles of reliable service in London as well as numerous towns and cities across the UK.
The joint venture received a firm order from First Bus for a further 126 zero-emission buses for Glasgow, comprising 91 double deck and 35 single deck buses. All are part-funded by the Scottish Government. The order is the largest ever for electric buses in Scotland. BYD-ADL also supplies buses for London and other cities in the UK.
The BYD ADL partnership’s bid for funding in the Scottish Government’s latest round of Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme was successful. Using BYD’s battery electric driveline technology, ADL will assemble the buses at its factory in Falkirk, Scotland, ensuring the investment benefits the local economy in Scotland’s Central Belt.
ADL is a subsidiary of leading independent global bus manufacturer NFI Group Inc. (NFI), while BYD is a global leader in batteries, energy management and electric mobility.
So far ore than 1,000 zero-emission buses have been delivered under the BYD-ADLpartnership. Paul Davies, Alexander Dennis’s president and managing director, said the cooperation has been successful.
Until 2021,the chassis for the BYD ADL Enviro200EV single deck and BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deck buses were fully built by BYD before being delivered to ADL’s facilities to have their bodywork fitted in the UK.
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