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Cape Town's Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) has signed a deal to acquire 120 electric buses from Chinese automotive powerhouse BYD, following four years of testing.

Delivery of the 65-seater units is scheduled to start late this year, with all the buses expected to be operational before December next year.

The plan is to introduce ten buses a month during 2025, says GABS company engineer Gideon Neethling.

The people carriers are BYD B12 buses, with similar specifications to the bulk of the current Golden Arrow fleet.

The 12.5-m-long electric buses are all equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries.

GABS CEO Francois Meyer says the order marks a turning point in the 163-year-old company's trajectory.

"This bulk order confirms our commitment to renewable energy and will also provide us with the larger scale operational data that could pave the way towards full fleet electrification."

"We are intensively preparing our workforce and infrastructure to operate a system with complex requirements," adds Neethling.

GABS started testing BYD electric buses in 2020, introducing two buses to its commuter service in 2021.

A third and a fourth bus entered testing in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Neethling tells Engineering News Online that he cannot share the cost of the BYD deal, noting only that it is financed through South Africa's commercial banks.

He says the buses will be imported in full, with no local content. However, he notes that GABS aims to work with a local bus body builder to develop a South African body to fit on the imported electric chassis "in the future".

Neethling says GABS opted for the BYD product as the auto maker is a global market leader "with a really good track record" with electric vehicles and battery development.

"The buses are also energy efficient and they come at a reasonable capital cost."

The range on the buses are just over 200 km, says Neethling.

"That will give us the opportunity to travel up to 400 km per day given a planned mid-day charging opportunity.

"The buses will operate from five of our depots, allowing us to collect bulk operational data and feedback from our passengers for most of our routes."

Neethling says there will be two charging opportunities a day - one between the daily peaks and one during night-time parking.

GABS has a total bus fleet of 1 200 buses, which means the BYD order electrifies close to 10% of its fleet.

Neethling says the bus operator has not yet decided if it wants a 100% electric fleet.

"The introduction of these buses will allow us to determine the operational and charging challenges when operating 120 electric buses.

"We will use the results to determine what portion of our fleet should be electric buses, and adjust our fleet renewal programme accordingly."