Cape Town will be South Africa’s first city that will use an electric bus transport system. Eleven battery electric buses will be supplied to the mother city by Chinese renewable energy company, BYD.

The implementation of the electric fleet will be one of the city’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions as part of its “Energy 2040 Strategy”. This strategy aims to increase transport efficiency in order to reduce carbon emissions by 3.2% by 2020.

The busses will initially be used as an express service on a 35 to 40 km route between the city’s central business district and its South East region, which includes the areas of Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain.

AD Huang, General Manager of BYD’s Middle East and Africa auto sales division, said that Cape Town’s implementation of the busses was the first showcase of “a clean and sustainable transport system in Africa”. He added that this new mode of transport would provide the city’s residents with “a more sustainable public transport system”, and that it would also assist the country in achieving its environmental ideals.

He explained that electric busses made less noise than those with diesel engines and that it provided a “smoother ride for passengers and bus drivers”.

Depending on the Cape Town government’s approval of the busses once the system has been implemented and run for a test period, BYD will looking to supply 10 more electric busses: five double-decker and five single deck busses.

“We look forward to continuing our contribution to the development of South Africa’s renewable energy scene,” Huang said.