All 16,000 buses in the fast-growing Chinese megacity are now electric, and soon all 22,000 taxis will be too

You have to keep your eyes peeled for the bus at the station in Shenzhen’s Futian central business district these days. The diesel behemoths that once signalled their arrival with a piercing hiss, a rattle of engine and a plume of fumes are no more, replaced with the world’s first and largest 100% electric bus fleet.

Shenzhen now has 16,000 electric buses in total and is noticeably quieter for it. “We find that the buses are so quiet that people might not hear them coming,” says Joseph Ma, deputy general manager at Shenzhen Bus Group, the largest of the three main bus companies in the city. “In fact, we’ve received requests to add some artificial noise to the buses so that people can hear them. We’re considering it.”

We’ve received requests to add artificial noise to the buses so people can hear them Joseph Ma

The benefits from the switch from diesel buses to electric are not confined to less noise pollution: this fast-growing megacity of 12 million – which was a fishing village until designated China’s first “special economic zone” in the 1980s – is also expected to achieve an estimated reduction in CO2 emissions of 48% and cuts in pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, non-methane hydrocarbons and particulate matter. Shenzhen Bus Group estimates it has been able to conserve 160,000 tonnes of coal per year and reduce annual CO2 emissions by 440,000 tonnes. Its fuel bill has halved.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shenzhen was a fishing town of 30,000 people in the late 1970s. Photograph: Getty Images

“With diesel buses I can remember standing at the bus stop and the heat, noise and emissions they generated made it unbearable in the summer,” says Ma. “The electric buses have made a tremendous difference.”

China’s drive to reduce the choking smog that envelops many of its major cities has propelled a huge investment in electric transport. Although it remains expensive for cities to introduce electric buses – one bus costs around 1.8 million yuan (£208,000) – Shenzhen was able to go all-electric thanks to generous subsidies from both central and local government.

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“Typically, more than half of the cost of the bus is subsidised by government,” says Ma. “In terms of operation there is another subsidy: if we run our buses for a distance of more than 60,000km we receive just under 500,000 yuan [£58,000] from local government.” This subsidy is put towards reducing the cost of the bus fares: “The government looks at the public transport very much as social welfare.”

To keep Shenzhen’s electric vehicle fleet running, the city has built around 40,000 charging piles. Shenzhen Bus Company has 180 depots with their own charging facilities installed. One of its major depots in Futian can accommodate around 20 buses at the same time. “Most of the buses we charge overnight for two hours and then they can run their entire service, as the range of the bus is 200km per charge,” says Ma.

Availability of charging stations is a major factor in why it is it difficult for other cities around the world to switch to all-electric bus fleets, but China being a one-party state hasn’t necessarily made it any easier in Shenzhen. “We have some of our own depots, but we also have to rent some from the municipal government, as well as from the private sector,” says Ma. “Aside from the subsidies in terms of purchasing the buses, we are very much left to ourselves to how we look for resources for our charging infrastructure.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shenzhen Bus Company deputy general manager Joseph Ma. Photograph: Matthew Keegan

Getting the required charging infrastructure for taxis is proving more challenging. By the end of this month, all of Shenzhen’s 22,000 taxis are required to switch to electric. Shenzhen Bus Company has switched its entire fleet of 4,600 taxis to electric ahead of schedule.

“For taxis it’s more about distribution than the number of charging pillars because taxis run all over the place and they have no fixed routes,” says Ma. “We are looking at all sorts of different solutions – from parking spaces in public areas like municipal parks and some of the major government venues, as well as temporary sites in local villages that might have communal land we can hire.”

The lack of charging stations is causing friction between taxi drivers. “You always hear about fights between taxi drivers trying to get into the charging stations and things like that,” says Ma. “It’s difficult for the drivers because obviously they can’t go too far out of the way to charge the taxis.”

His firm is developing an app to track where charging spaces are available and notify drivers in real time.

Too expensive outside China?

More than 30 Chinese cities have made plans to achieve 100% electrified public transit by 2020, including Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Foshan and Zhongshan in the Pearl River Delta; and Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shaanxi and Shandong.

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But with central government planning to withdraw subsidies by 2020, introducing electric buses elsewhere could be too expensive.

There is also geography to consider. Shenzhen is fairly flat, but the hills of nearby Hong Kong have proven too much in trials of electric buses. Other cities in northern China have struggled with battery power in the extreme cold of winter.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A hybrid electric bus in midtown Manhattan. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA

Meanwhile, cities such as London and New York are accelerating their drive towards electric buses. London plans to make all single-decker buses emission-free by 2020, and all double-deckers hybrid by 2019. New York plans to make its bus fleet all-electric by 2040.

Riding the 222 bus the length of Shenzhen’s CBD, you hear little sound other than a soft whine when the driver accelerates. The easy-to-clean hard plastic seats are not the most comfortable but most passengers opt to stand anyway – a choice made easier by the smoothness of the ride.

Rolling into our destination, the doors open with a beep, beep, beep – the loudest noise the bus has made the entire journey.

“It’s quieter, smoother and I only pay the same fare as before,” says Lai, a regular passenger. “I would say most people here are happy with the switch.”

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