Alcoa Creates Innovative All-Aluminum Bus Design for BYD’s New Electric Bus

Alcoa has declared that it has created a new all-aluminum bus design and space frame for BYD, reducing the body weight of the new BYD electric bus by around 1 t or 40%, when compared to steel components.

The first two prototypes of the new BYD electric bus were introduced in Changsha City, Hunan Province in China.

Alcoa has not only decreased the bus body weight but also has cut down the overall weight of the bus by 1.2 t by using its Huck Spin fasteners and Alcoa forged wheels. The reduction in overall weight will increase the electric bus’ overall range by a minimum of 10%, resulting in a range of roughly 300 km on a 100% charge.

BYD intends to manufacture the electric bus in large numbers for the Chinese and Southeast Asian regions and also for the global market. Alcoa’s Bohai rolling mill located in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, will exclusively supply the sheet product and the new bus design. It will also supply forged aluminum fasteners and wheels exclusively for the project. Additional terms of the deal were not revealed.

The new bus design is based on Alcoa’s expertise in safe transportation design, which includes space frame technologies for ground transportation and automotive segments. Alcoa’s President for Asia-Pacific region, Jinya Chen stated that it is remarkable to reduce the weight of the new electric bus of BYD by over 1.2 tons using Alcoa solutions versus steel. In addition to the weight, the new design is long-lasting and recyclable, corrosion resistant, Chen added.