BYD E-taxis spread to Brussels

BYD Auto has delivered 34 e6 taxis to the city of Brussels. BYD auto claims to be “the fastest growing car maker in China”.

The company’s proposal was accepted following a proposal seeking parties to operate 50 electric taxicabs. The use of these “environmentally-friendly” taxicabs is seen as an important “first step in bringing emission-free transport to Brussels’s roads”, replacing gasoline- and diesel-powered taxis with electric vehicles (EVs).

BYD – seemingly the world’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries – is underlining its role as the leading producer of pure electric vehicles. It has “hundreds of e6 vehicles in daily service around the world”.

A small number of e6 taxis have been in service with Rotterdam Taxi Company for over a year, while a fleet of 20 has been working in London since early 2014. The latest batch of 34 BYD e6 taxis entered service in Brussels over the last few months; the official inauguration took place on 15 October.

In China, 850 BYD e6 taxis are in service in the city of Shenzhen, headquarters for BYD, with a further fleet of 45 operating in Hong Kong. BYD claims that together, these taxis have accumulated over 200,000,000km of trouble-free, revenue earning passenger carrying service.

The BYD e6 is a five-passenger, crossover vehicle powered by the BYD Iron-Phosphate (or Fe) batteries. It offers a long battery life with the “highest safety level in the industry”. It requires two hours to fully charge the e6 using a fast AC charging solution developed by BYD. This EV can then cover a range up to 300km, providing both the driver and passengers with an “excellent driving experience and zero emissions/zero pollution”.

The availability of charging facilities is critical to EV customers. In conjunction with the introduction of BYD pure electric taxi fleets the company can supply advanced and high- speed charging facilities to support them.

As well as with its pure electric taxis, BYD is introducing a range of ebuses in a number of global cities – more than 36 in Europe have already trialled the BYD ebus.