Hong Kong launches first battery-electric taxi fleet with BYD e6; new charging stations
16 May 2013
BYD announced the launch of Hong Kong’s first all-electric taxi fleet using the BYD e6 electric cross-over sedan. BYD collaborated with Sime Darby Motors Group (Sime Darby), Hong Kong Taxi & Public Light Bus Association Limited, The Link Management Limited, CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and The Hong Kong Electric Company Limited to place into service the first batch of 45 BYD e6 Taxis.
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| Hongkong first pure electric taxi fleet. Click to enlarge. |
BYD also announced that the e6 “Taxi version” and e6 “Premier” sedan were now officially on sale in Hong Kong. The 5-passenger BYD e6 offers a range of up to 300 km (186 miles), according to BYD.
In conjunction with the introduction of the electric taxi fleet and the e6 Premier sedans, BYD is setting up 47 chargers in 9 charging locations near car parks throughout Hong Kong as the first phase of deployment. To address the anticipated growth of EV adoption, BYD plans to increase the number of charging facilities as adoption rolls out.
These charging stations are now dispersed across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories and Lantau Island. The selection of these locations was optimized with the taxi-driver, shift-change locations, while taking into consideration the distance between each station and forming a reasonable coverage network for convenience. BYD anticipates that a one-hour recharge would only be needed per shift (during a rest or lunch break).
A bigger and more robust pack (Lithium iron phosphate) make the e6 far more suitable for taxi use than the Leaf.
Posted by: Davemart | 16 May 2013 at 08:58 AM
This is a BEVs application that all large cities should promote more proactively with free charging stations, lower cost license fees for the next five years, initial purchase grants and/or low interest loans etc.
Posted by: HarveyD | 16 May 2013 at 10:22 AM