Yutong Bus has reached agreements to deliver 100 all electric buses to Chile. Having sent more than 20,000 vehicles to Latin America over the past 15 years, it says it has become the leading Chinese bus supplier on the continent.
The 100 full electric buses for Chile will be used by Buses Vule and STP Santiago to serve the Santiago public transportation system. Yutong’s delivery comes as the Chilean government has launched an environmentally-friendly urban development policy, part of which includes a program to replace current city buses with ‘new energy’ vehicles by 2050.
E12, the model Yutong will deliver to Chile, is equipped with a power capacity of 324kWh. The model comes with 150kw DC chargers and it takes two hours to fully charge each vehicle. Recharging can take place at a lower price at night, reducing the cost of operation.
“For 13 years we’ve been strengthening our presence in Chile, deploying the Yutong model of customised products, accessories, financing and comprehensive protection to serve different customers in different markets,” said Chang Hao, Yutong’s Deputy General Manager of overseas markets.
Yutong has ranked as the top Chinese bus exporter in Latin America in the past three years, with a total of 20,635 buses delivered to date, making up 54% of all Chinese exports in the sector.
To service vehicles already in use in Chile, it has set up seven partnership service stations to provide one-stop support as well as operational training. Courses on driving, maintenance, vehicle structure, emergency handling and troubleshooting are provided, particularly for ‘new energy’ buses like those to be delivered to Santiago.
In 2017, Yutong sold 67,568 large and medium-sized buses including 24,865 ‘new energy’ buses.
