BYD Articulated Bus Passes Altoona Testing

BYD said its American-built model K11M 60-ft. battery-electric, articulated public transit bus has successfully completed the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Model Bus Testing Program in Altoona, Pa.

BYD said the K11M, which also exceeds all Buy America requirements, successfully completed the new FTA “Pass/Fail” protocol. As a result, U.S. transit agencies can use FTA funding to buy the BYD K11M. Several agencies, including the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, based in Lancaster, Calif., Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and IndyGo in Indianapolis, have already deployed the model.

In September, BYD’s K11M battery-electric transit bus completed the full 15,000-mile durability test in 106 days.

BYD’s 60-foot articulated transit bus is targeted for high-volume passenger operations. Depending on the configuration, the bus can accommodate up to 89 passengers. It has a range of up to 220 miles and can be fully charged in three to four hours, BYD said.

The K11M is built at BYD’s Coach & Bus factory in Lancaster, Calif. The K11M uses BYD TYC-180A 180 kW, 1500 Nm AC synchronous in-wheel traction motors (on the C axle) and 200 kW iron-phosphate batteries. The front axles is a ZF model RL 75 A, the middle axle is a ZF AVN 132, while the rear axle is a BYD in-wheel motor drive axle. The bus also features a Wabco electronically controlled air suspension and Knorr disc brakes with ABS.