Zero-emissions, Electric Chauffeur Fleet Four Years Ahead of London Deadlin

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands-Jan. 29, 2014; BYD has teamed up with Thriev to provide twenty (20) BYD e6 electric sedans for London’s emission-free, chauffeur fleet -- vehicles officially launch on Feb 3rd, 2014. Last month, the Mayor of London announced that from January 1st, 2018 and forward, all new taxis would need to be zero-emissions in order to receive an operating license. Today’s announcement means that the London private hire market is nearly four years ahead of schedule. Thriev (Thriev) offers low-cost, zero-emission, chauffeured cars to corporate and private clients in London. The company is rolling out an electric car program complete with intelligent AC power interfaces, EVs and state-of-the-art smart car/charger scheduling systems. Part of the deal with BYD is that Thriev will equip its Edgware Road facility, west London, with BYD’s purpose-designed charging equipment, which allows fast charging of the e6 in just two hours.

“We think that BYD’s e6 model will meet all our requirements to offer passenger comfort, good range and rapid charging. We share BYD’s desire to provide practical, zero-emission solutions and look forward to a long-term partnership.”

Initially, the e6 fleet is being supplied on a lease arrangement, although both BYD and Thriev expect this to be the beginning of a long-term relationship fulfilling a joint BYD and Thriev vision for a ‘green city solution’ – the transitioning of key public and personal transport vehicles from petrol and diesel power to pure electric. In December 2013, two fully-electric, full-size 12-meter BYD buses operated by Go-Ahead Group, entered service on two central Transport-for-London routes – part of a Europe-wide initiative to introduce emissions-free buses to major city centre operations. Both the e6 car and eBus from BYD share the same proven and reliable Battery-electric technology. They use BYD’s internally developed Iron-Phosphate (or “FE”) batteries, proven in over 100 million miles of taxi and 14 million miles of bus passenger transport in China as well as many parts of the world.

Commenting on the agreement with Thriev, Isbrand Ho, BYD Europe’s Managing Director, said, “We have been looking at various options to bring our e6 and its proven emissions-free technology to London. We are convinced that in Thriev we have found the right partner to do this – we share many of the same objectives of providing safe, reliable and efficient green transport in cities.” Arvind Vij, CEO and a co-founder of Thriev, said, “We think that BYD’s e6 model will meet all our requirements to offer passenger comfort, good range and rapid charging. We share BYD’s desire to provide practical, zero-emission solutions and look forward to a long-term partnership.”