www.chinabuses.org: An island which is home to the Netherland’s first National Park is about to launch Europe’s cleanest city bus fleet. The Friesland Province government officially announced yesterday BYD came out on top in their electric bus tender, the very first open electric city bus tender in Europe. BYD scored the highest in meeting program goals and won not only an order for the six electric buses, but also a 15-year maintenance contract. 

Friesland Provincial Executive Director Johannes Kramer stated, "Friesland province leads Europe in green transportation now. We will soon have a fully-electrified public transportation service with these six BYD electric buses. This is good for Schiermonnikoog, good for tourism, and great for the environment!"

Yongping Chen, the business director of BYD AUTO added, “We are honored to win the first European electric bus tender beating all other bus companies. The Friesland Province really has a understanding in preserving the environment and developing sustainable economy. We will work together with the Friesland government to make its public transport cleaner and quieter.” 

This project supports Friesland province’s stated goal to be fully independent of fossil fuels. They have identified that over a third of CO2 emissions in the province are the result of traffic and transportation pollution, therefore, they have chosen to electrify public transportation. As the province adopts more and more renewable sources of energy, the benefits are immediately realized in reduced public transportation emissions with electric buses. 

The BYD electric buses are comparable to the buses now servicing Schiermonnikoog in terms of size – they are 12 meters long (40 feet). It is able to run 250 km (155 miles) on a single charge in urban conditions. The Fe battery (Iron Phosphate battery) equipped in the BYD electric bus boasts the highest safety, longest service life and most environmentally-friendly rechargeable chemistry and contains no heavy metals or toxic electrolytes. BYD electric buses are now in regular passenger service in several cities in China, Europe and North America, making it the largest electric bus manufacturer in the world. The accumulated mileage has reached over 7 million kilometers (or 4.35 million miles) achieved by the end of May 2012.