BYD-Goldstone Electric 12m City Bus: This Is It!

The 12-metre BYD Goldstone e-bus is under aggressive trial-run regime with different State Transport Undertakings (STUs) across the country. 

Goldstone 12m electric bus

Image Credit: MotorIndia

This is perhaps the most successful electric bus globally in terms of sales, with more than 10,000 units on road since its inception in 2012. Of course, the China-based BYD Auto is the largest manufacturer and supplier of pure electric buses in the world, and is now making a huge impression in the Indian market as well. The company has tied up with Hyderabad-based Goldstone Infratech Ltd to reach out to potential buyers of its electric buses in India, STUs in particular.

Also Read: Electric Bus Race: Indian OEM Trio Moving Ahead

BYD’s firebrand product for the Indian market is the latest 12-metre low-floor pure-electric city bus, which was presented at the 2016 IAA Commercial Vehicles Show, Hannover last year. After overwhelming response from BMTC and HRTC, Goldstone is in full swing right now, offering the e-bus to all STUs in India who are willing for trial runs at this respective cities. Late last month, the Telangana-registered prototype was at Chandigarh, undergoing trial runs for the CTU (Chandigarh Transport Undertaking). That’s when we got an exclusive opportunity to explore the vehicle in detail. At present, we are told that the same prototype is at the other end of the country, undergoing trail runs at Chennai for the state transport corporation. Kudos!

electric bus 12 metre BYD

Technologically speaking, the BYD electric bus is far superior than any other e-bus we have seen in India so far. It features Iron phosphate (Fe) battery pack, an eco-friendly and higher energy dense type of Lithium-ion battery, of 324 kWh / 600 Ah rating. It drives the twin rear wheel-hub AC synchronous motors of 90 kW output rating each. With a charging period of 5-6 hours from zero to full charge, this bus is expected to render a mileage of around 250 kms per single charge. Goldstone is totally tight-lipped on the technical data and trial-run results of the bus, so authentic performance reports on Indian city conditions is yet to be revealed.

Moreover, the unitary construction body and reliable electric design comply to international safety standards. The electric bus is also equipped with tech-savvy features like Intelligent key system, electronically controlled air suspension system (for ride height adjustment and side kneeling), and disc-brakes on all wheels with integrated ABS.

Also Read: Tata Ultra Electric 9m Non-AC Bus: This Is It!

Apart from the 12-metre bus, Goldstone was also testing the 8-metre BYD K7 ‘midi’ electric bus at different places in India last year.

Next, would you like to read more on Electric Buses, or Buses in general?

Dhiyanesh Ravichandran

Editorial consultant (Automotive and Technology), academic, and blogger based in India. He can be reached at wagenclub@gmail.com

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2 Responses

  1. Nirmal Shekar says:

    Wow, amazing experiment for country like India. Nice photo gallery

  2. Durai Baskaran says:

    What is price

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