BYD Expands California Electric-Bus Plant

China’s BYD Co. Ltd. has completed the third phase of its Lancaster, Calif., manufacturing facility, which now has the capacity to build 1,500 electric buses per year.

The expansion triples the size of the facility to 450,000 sq. ft., which BYD says makes it the largest electric bus plant in North America. At full-capacity, the plant will employ 2,000 people.

BYD opened the Coach and Bus facility, which is powered by renewable energy provided by Lancaster Choice Energy, in 2013. Since then the company has delivered 137 electric buses—including more than 75 this year—to some 40 transit agencies, universities and airports in the U.S. and Canada.

BYD says it has orders to produce 300 more buses and purchase options for twice that many. Current customers include the Los Angeles Dept. of Transportation, Stanford University, UCLA, UC San Francisco, UC Irvine and Anaheim Resort Transportation.

The Lancaster facility also assembles BYD’s medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks, including delivery, drayage, refuse and yard trucks. By the end of 2017, BYD will have delivered 70 all-electric trucks to 15 customers in North America, with additional orders for more than 140 units.