BYD’s all-electric vehicles to be added to Shenzhen City fleet

BYD Auto Co.,Ltd. (BYD), the Chinese automaker based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, announced that 1,000 units of BYD’s all-elective K9 e-bus and 500 units of BYD e6 taxis will be added to Shenzhen City’s public transportation fleet. “Shenzhen is the first city in China to implement a subsidy for new energy vehicles and the first city to launch consumer sales of the BYD e6,” said Xiangzhen Lu, director of the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission (SDRC). BYD e6 is a 5-seat, crossover electric vehicle that has zero emissions and is China’s first all-electric car. SDRC said that rising oil prices and the increasing environmental pressures are the key reasons why the public transportation system is being revamped. The company said that Shenzhen City will soon establish new policies in the hope that they will encourage the use of private electric vehicles. (March 6, 2012)