BYD Canada was awarded orders for nine long-range, zero-emission, battery-electric buses by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL).

BYD Canada announced that RTL will receive five 30-foot buses and STM will receive an order of four of the same model. The buses will make an immediate improvement to air quality and noise levels in both cities. These buses alone will deliver a reduction in carbon emissions of more than 600 metric tonnes each year. This will mean a total reduction of 7200 tonnes over the operating life of the vehicles.

“Long-range electric-battery buses make sense in Quebec,” said BYD Canada’s VP Ted Dowling. “We are using Hydro Quebec’s clean electricity to charge our buses overnight. This is the best use of surplus power and will save STM and RTL over $100,000 a year in diesel costs.”

The order from Longueuil was BYD Canada’s first order of heavy-duty electric buses in Quebec. Together with STM’s order in Montreal this is the beginning of a large transit transformation to zero-emission vehicles in the Province.

“The buses are the first of what we hope will become an important part of the fleets in both communities and others in Quebec,” said Dowling. “This would not have happened without the climate change leadership shown by Mayors Valerie Plante and Sylvie Parent, in Montreal and Longueuil, along with the support of their transit agency leaders in STM and RTL.”

This order puts STM and RTL ahead of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Climate Change’s new carbon pollution regulations for heavy-duty vehicles starting in 2020.

In addition to this order in Quebec, BYD Canada has buses on order or in operation in Toronto, Victoria, and St. Albert and Grand Prairie in Alberta.