BYD to deliver 64 electric trucks

Zero-emissions trucks will take part in demonstration for medium to heavy duty

BYD Motors, the US arm of the Chinese automaker and rechargeable batteries firm BYD Co Ltd, is expected to deliver 64 all-electric, zero-emission trucks for five California-funded projects by early next year under the state's climate investments program.

The latest project is funded through the California Energy Commission, which awarded the San Diego Port Tenants Association a $5.9 million grant this month to fund the development of 10 all-electric freight vehicles outfitted with zero-emission technologies for operation at the Port of San Diego, according to the awardee's announcement early this week.

The grant is provided to fund demonstration projects for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle technologies.

As part of this project, BYD will deliver five Class 8 heavy-duty all-electric trucks - three yard trucks for off-road cargo handling and two on-road drayage trucks. Both truck types will be capable of transporting fully loaded 55,000-pound shipping containers, and they will be deployed in early 2017, said Andy Swanton, director of business development for electric trucks at BYD Motors.

The other recipient of the California Energy Commission's "Freight Transportation Projects at California Seaports" grant program is the Port of Los Angeles. The grant is provided to fund demonstration projects for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle technologies.

For this project, BYD is building five yard trucks that will be deployed at Everport Terminal Services at the Port of Los Angeles at the beginning of next year.

Last week, a $26 million demonstration project, funded in part through the California Air Resources Board (CARB), was launched at the Port of Los Angeles to test zero-emission technologies.

BYD joins this project as the original equipment manufacturer providing a 2.6-megawatt battery storage system and two Class 8 electric yard trucks. The battery storage system will be used to store solar power to recharge the BYD electric yard trucks. The trucks and the battery storage system are expected to be delivered by the end of this year.

This project will be BYD's first example of taking transportation off the grid and making it 100 percent renewable and self-sufficient in North America, said the company.

Last month, BYD also was granted $9.1 million by CARB through a local planning agency to deploy 27 electric trucks for goods movement activity in San Bernardino and Fontana.

The 23 all-electric, zero-emission yard trucks and four all-electric, zero-emission Class 5 service trucks will be deployed at two BNSF railyards - San Bernardino and Commerce - and a new facility that Daylight Transport is building in Fontana.

Another $23.6 million project, also funded by CARB, will demonstrate 25 all-electric, zero-emission drayage trucks from BYD with leading drayage fleets servicing the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, and San Diego, said Swanton.

BYD expected to deliver its first battery-electric drayage truck this fall, Stella Li, president of BYD Motors, said in a statement in May when the project was announced.

The Los Angeles-based company opened a factory in Lancaster in 2014 and has won a number of contracts for its electric buses. It began introducing all-electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks in early 2015, focusing on three markets - urban delivery, goods movement and refuse trucks.

For urban delivery, the company has developed three models, all of which are 100 percent electric. For goods movement, it has yard trucks for off-road cargo handling and drayage trucks for on-road transportation, according to Swanton.

As for refuse trucks, "we are still developing an all-electric, zero-emission refuse truck platform that will be used for front loaders, automated side loaders and rear loaders," said Swanton. "We intend to demonstrate these vehicles next year."

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com