The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

BYD in Lancaster to produce 20 electric buses for UCI

by •

The 20 electric buses being built by BYD in Lancaster will feature UCI colors and emblems. [Image via UCI]
IRVINE – The University of California Irvine announced Monday that 20 electric-powered buses worth $15 million are on order, which will make UCI the first campus in the country to have an all-electric fleet.

The buses will be constructed by Build Your Dreams, or BYD, at the Chinese-owned company’s Lancaster location.

UCI students previously voted to pay up to $40 each quarter to the student government to finance the acquisition of the buses, which will replace diesel-fueled vehicles in the student-funded and operated service that shuttles students around campus.

“Once again, UCI is number one in making sure we have a sustainable future,” stated Tracy La, president of the Associated Students of UCI. “I hope the rest of the country can follow us. I hope other colleges and universities will do this.”

UCI officials say theirs is the first campus to scrap its entire fleet of diesel-fueled buses in favor of electric-powered buses that emit zero emissions.

“Thanks to a phenomenal partnership between our student organization and the divisions of Student Affairs and Administrative and Business Services, this fall we will move our students in a fleet of zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles — and be the first university in the country to do so,” stated Dan Dooros, UCI’s associate vice chancellor of student affairs.

The buses are scheduled to be in use on the campus by this fall, UCI officials said.

[Information via news release from the University of California, Irvine.]

–

7 comments for "BYD in Lancaster to produce 20 electric buses for UCI"

  1. UCI is spending $15 million on 20 campus busses? No wonder a college education is out of control and student debt is crushing our young people. They should be buying less expensive hybrids or CNG busses. What a joke.

    • 750K per bus is a fairly reasonable price. Looking back through recent city transit department purchases the most recent order of hybrid buses (Greensboro) ran out to 670K per bus. I can’t find any recent information on CNG buses, but I doubt they are a whole lot cheaper.

      By the way, the buses are being paid for out of student fees, so you really wouldn’t have anything to be mad about even if they were buying gold plated buses for ten million a pop.

      • Taxpayers do pay for Some Federal and State Student Grants that pay fees and BYD does recieve money from CA State rebates/credits (estimate $100,000+ per bus)like Tesla Motors. Along with taxpayers grants for charging station and cheaper electricity that consumers pay for. But I love it, more Jobs for AV….AV work the system to create jobs or our tax dollars will go to help another place. Bring Bacon home Leaders.

      • Good point. It just adds to the cost of a college education, which is problematic and will have negative effects down the road.

    • Don’t worry Tim Scott, “Mad Taxpayer” is SOOOO mad, he can’t even bother to read the article..

      And on top of that, he’s ashamed to use his real name on the Interwebs…. ;-)