The Chinese car-making company BYD has signed a contract to manufacture over 300 electric buses. Dubbed eBus-12, the vehicle represents another step of PRC to becoming greener.

It is worth mentioning that the fleet of all-electric buses will be launched for the 2011 International Universiade Games that will take place in Shenzhen.

One of the most impressive advantages of the bus is its ability to register a long range of 250 kilometers on a single charge. This has become possible due to a high quality Fe battery apparatus with environmentally-friendly rechargeable system. Despite the fact that the battery allows the vehicle to travel almost 250 kilometers per charge, with the fast recharge mechanism used in the vehicle’s battery it takes about 30 minutes to achieve 50 percent state of charge.

It’s for the first time that BYD has been given the task to create eco-friendly buses. It would be interesting to note that BYD is China’s leading company that specializes in high performance eco-friendly rechargeable batteries and other green technologies.

As soon as the buses become part of the transportation system of Shenzhen, it will become the largest fleet of electric buses in the world.

In order to create a pure electric vehicle, BYD decide to use in-wheel motor drive system along with Iron Phospate (Fe) Battery technology.

Besides, by using axle-free drive system, the company managed to create more rider-friendly buses that have their floors much lower compared to traditional buses.

Because the air-conditioning system requires a lot of energy, the company decided to equip its buses with solar panels mounted on the roof. The power collected by these solar panels is stored in the Fe Battery.

[via BusinessWire]