A jaguar receives treatment at an animal care center in Goias, central Brazil, on Sept 27. The animal suffered injuries from a fire in the Pantanal tropical wetland, the largest in the world. The area saw nearly 6,000 fires in August, the second highest on record, caused mainly by climate change. Brazil and other Latin American countries are calling for intensive efforts to reduce pollution and emissions to conserve nature. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Latin American megacities are looking forward to pollutant-free public transport thanks to growing supplies of electric buses of Chinese brands.

Both Mexico City and Bogota saw breakthroughs on the streets in September. The deployment of more than 480 BYD and Yutong electric buses from China in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, began in September, while Mexico City put new buses into operation lately. Santiago, the capital of Chile, also boosted its fleet.

“These deliveries will consolidate Colombia’s leadership in electro mobility in Latin America,” said Oliverio Garcia, president of ANDEMOS, the Latin American Association of Sustainable Mobility.

Buses have long been polluters of sprawling urban centers like Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. These, along with similar cities in countries like Chile, Peru and Colombia are rapidly pushing forward plans to transform public transport with environmentally clean fleets of electric buses made by China-based companies.

“Electro-mobility has no reverse gear in the region,” Garcia told China Daily.

Yutong Bus is a familiar name in Central and South America. Based in Zhengzhou of Central China, Yutong delivered 100 fully electric buses to Santiago in 2019 and, recently, deployed electric trolleybuses to Mexico City. 

In Mexico City, the first fully electric bus debuted on Sept 24 on Line 3 of the Metrobus. More units are scheduled within the year, according to Mexico News Daily.

“I have committed myself to the goal of Mexico City having a fleet of 500 trolleybuses in 2023, five times bigger than the one that existed in 2018,” said Claudia Sheinbaum, mayor of Mexico City, during the recent launch of newly arrived Yutong buses.

The mayor expects the reduction of polluting emissions and greenhouse gases, and even cheaper investment in the long run though it is a little higher initially.

Metrobus director Roberto Capuano announced that the operating cost is 30 percent less than that of a diesel-fueled bus, Mexico News Daily said. Also, the new bus promises a better experience for passengers and drivers, offering a smooth ride, free of vibrations.

The largest stakeholder in transport transformation is Chile, with more than 400 public electric buses in the capital Santiago, and another 40 electric buses added in September. Other Chilean cities Las Condes, Valparaiso and La Reina have also joined the movement to transform the way their citizens commute.

“Chile is building what will be the largest bus charging station of the world,” Andres Barentin, president of the Chilean Association of Electric Vehicles (AVEC), told China Daily, referring to a terminal that can charge over 200 buses simultaneously.

Santiago launched the region’s first electric bus corridor in October 2019 with less than 300 BYD electric buses up to now. 

Founded in 1995, BYD focuses on electronics, automobiles, new energy and rail transit. It has emerged as the largest electric bus provider in Latin America, with buses operating in Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay.

Also eyeing the Colombian market is SAIC Motor subsidiary Shanghai Sunwin Bus Corp, which supplied dozens of buses to Cali, Colombia earlier. 

Another Chinese firm in the region is Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co, with 25 buses sold to Santiago and another 10 to Montevideo, capital of Uruguay. Founded in 1988, the company also makes commonly used hybrid as well as natural gas buses, of which Mexico has bought hundreds.

“Chile was a pioneer in Latin America,” Alvaro Flano, director and former president of AVEC told China Daily. Flano is also director in multiple companies involved in electric and sustainable mobility in Chile.

“The most important step was taken by the electricity generating companies when looking for a form of financing so that the bus companies could make their purchases. They were their financiers, because the banks at that time were reluctant to deliver this type of credits,” said Flano.

Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city, has a subway but electric buses are helping to integrate the various parts of the public transport system. The city bought the buses from BYD a year ago. 

Over the years Chinese companies have been developing green technology and best-in-class products, assisting the region to achieve important milestones such as transforming public transportation. 

For most electric bus makers, the region’s most desirable market is Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy. Brazil’s National Union of Motor Vehicle Components Industry said there are 390,968 buses operating in the country; only 247 are electric.

According to E-BUS RADAR, a collaborative platform promoted by the Sustainable Mobility Laboratory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 1,229 electric buses operated in the region by April. Still, this remains a fraction of tens of thousands of buses across the region, indicating an enormous electric bus market.

Aware of the potential, BYD, the largest provider of electric buses in the region, is premiering a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant to support electric bus production for domestic and international markets. Its latest investment, a US$2.7 million for a 5,000-square-meter facility in the city of Manaus, is its third plant in Brazil.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.