BYD's brand new Midibus wins first European order

BRUSSELS - Connexxion, a large public transport company in the Netherlands, has announced Thursday to order 21 units of China's BYD's brand new Midibus, which will make its debut at the six-day Busworld Europe (Kortrijk) in Belgium.

The Dutch company told media that the new model of BYD's Midibus, a classification of single-decker minibuses which are larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker, will be put into service in the northern part of North Holland, a province in the northwest of the Netherlands.

The new fleet will deliver a service in largely rural areas during the daytime, Connexxion revealed before the opening of the show, which will kick off on Friday and conclude on Oct 25.

BYD Company Ltd is a leading high-tech muntinational company based in Shenzhen in southern China.

The deal is believed to be one of BYD's largest orders for heavy duty pure electric midibuses in Europe and is certainly the first significant one to be placed by a Dutch operator.

Eric van Eijndhoven, Managing Director of Public Transport for Connexxion, said: "We chose BYD due to its proven and leading electric bus and battery technology. We are delighted to be the first user of this important new model and know our passengers will enjoy the new levels of green performance the buses will deliver ".

Isbrand Ho, BYD Europe's Managing Director, said: "This is a great news which confirms the attractiveness of our new model which brings big bus features to the midibus sector."

He added: "This is a real bus with all the reliable, heavy duty features operators expect but smaller than our other ebuses and of course totally emissions free".

The Midibuses ordered by Connexxion have an overall length of 8.75m, two doors and have seats for 26 passengers (with a total capacity of about 50).

Delivery of the Midibuses and the start of operation are scheduled in the summer of 2018.

The Busworld Europe (Kortrijk), which was initiated in 1971, is the world's biggest B2B bus and coach exhibition.