Bogota Taxi Fleet to Get 46 BYD E6 EVs in 2013

Chinese automaker BYD (Build Your Dreams) has announced that it will be supplying 46 of their E6 EVs to the taxi fleet of the Colombian capital city, Bogota. The Chinese carmaker will send a total of 49 EVs to Colombia, and the three remaining cars will be sent to Colceincias, Bogota’s Tech, Science and Innovation Administration.

The E6 has become one of the better-known EVs, around the world, and in China, it is quite popular and already used in numerous taxi fleets around the country. It also suffered some controversy, when one example caught fire after colliding with a speeding Nissan GT-R, driven by a man who had been drinking, and who fled the scene afterwards.

They will also be supplying 50 E6 EVs to the London taxi fleet, and they are expected to go into operational service in mid-2013, while the ones in Bogota will be entered into active duty in March.

BYD Senior Vice President, Stella Li said: "BYD is very impressed with the leadership in Colombia and their vision to be a part of the new clean technology era with electrified public transportation. We hope to triple our growth and presence in Colombia by next year [ . . . ] This project will permit us to analyze the behavior of the electric cars, with the purpose of reducing the dependence on fossil fuels."