BYD to contribute to green Rio Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO - BYD, a Chinese producer of electric vehicles and solar panels, will contribute to green Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games next year.

Rio is determined to hold environment-friendly Olympics, setting an example of sustainability and leaving a green legacy for Brazil.

Brazil's major cities have growing concerns about air pollution and seek to upgrade their urban transportation systems, which mostly use diesel buses.

Considering the high costs, long construction periods of new subway and railway lines, express bus lanes with electric vehicles serve as the best option for bigger cities.

BYD is in a good position to tap this huge market.

"Brazil has the second-largest bus market in the world. And we believe in Brazil's potential to consolidate its position as one of the largest markets for clean energy," said Adalberto Maluf, director of marketing and governmental affairs for BYD in Brazil.

The company is also building a factory in Campinas, Sao Paulo state, which will open in August. The plant will produce batteries and solar panels and assemble electric vehicles with imported parts.

A second factory will take over bus and battery cell production, further reducing the costs of buses and taxis sold on the Brazilian market.

In addition, BYD is part of a consortium that has won a public bid for a car-sharing program in Rio de Janeiro, which initially foresees a fleet of 300 electric cars.

"Our negotiations with Rio are advanced for a relatively larger fleet, in line with a request of the municipal government, which wants to reduce carbon emissions and make improvements for the Olympic Games," Maluf told Xinhua.

BYD will also bid for service operations after the plan was developed, Maluf said, adding that the company would have advantages thanks to its knowledge of the project.

In April, BYD participated in a summit of mayors with the theme of sustainable development of cities.

According to a declaration released at the end of the forum, some 50,000 buses will be replaced by ones using clean energy by 2020, or a third of the buses in service in those cities that signed the document.