The first E-bus was imported in October 2020 to Pakistan from BYD, and the E-bus has made its debut and started operations in Karachi in March this year.
Pakistan and China have joined hands for electric vehicles manufacturing which would contribute a lot in fighting the global warming and climate change impacts, Gwadar Pro said yesterday.
According to the report, BYD China, the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer, has collaborated with Pakistan’s Sapphire Group for market development and manufacturing of electric vehicles in Pakistan.
The first electric bus was imported in October 2020 to Pakistan from BYD, and the E-bus has made its debut and started operations in Karachi in March this year.
Sapphire is running this bus in partnership on a 36km two-way existing route. The idea is to scale up the number of EV buses to 100 in Karachi.
Talha Tariq, Project Manager (Business Development) Sapphire Energy Pvt, said that electric vehicles were introduced due to the global warming and climate change.
As per Sapphire Group, the operational cost is going to be lower than half of the routine buses running in Karachi. The bus has an improved capacity of 324 kWh (kilowatt-hours) and a range of 250 km in one charge with full load under regular city traffic.
As in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, there is transportation congestion going on, the way diesel buses are functioning is again being reviewed. Some believe the rise of E-bus in the city can be a solution to transport jams as well.
Pakistan’s annual import of oil and gas accounts for about 80%. “If all 240,000 buses in Pakistan were changed into electric ones, it would save a lot of fuel, and the dependence on imports will be largely reduced. 40-50% of traffic emissions pollution can be lessened,” said Liu Xueliang, General Manager of Asia Pacific Auto Sales Division, BYD
With regards to renewable energy, Liu particularly mentioned the potential in solar energy. Pakistan enjoys sunlight more than 3,000 hours a year on average, with Baluchistan getting sunlight 8 to 8.5 hours per day, which stands out in global terms.
Originally published at The nation