BYD Auto and the Danish public transport agency, Movia, reached an agreement on March 10 to field-test two all-electric K9 buses in Copenhagen, according to Xinhua. If everything goes well, the K9 will formally join the city’s bus fleet in the second half of 2012.

In China, the K9 has since January 2011 been serving the public of two cities in a trial program: Changsha, Hunan, where it is made, and Shenzhen, Guangdong, where BYD is based. Just before the first K9 rolled off production line on September 30, 2010, the city of Changsha signed a letter of intent with BYD on purchasing 1,000 units.

1200mm long, 2550mm wide, and 3300mm tall, the K9 has a wheelbase of 6200mm, a curb weight of 18,000kg, a rated capacity of 32 passengers (including the driver), and a low-floor design for easy access. The lithium-ion (LiFePO4) batteries on board, which can be recharged to a limited extent by the solar panels installed on the roof, power two rear wheel-hub motors, each putting out a maximum of 90kW of power and 550Nm of torque.

The K9 can run as fast as 70km/h, and cover 250km on one charge under normal driving conditions in cities. The range can increase to 300km when air conditioners are off. A complete recharge takes about 6 hours; the fast mode can replenish the batteries to 50% full in 30 minutes.

Each K9 is said to sell for about 2 million Yuan in China before incentives and subsidies are applied.

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