Asian bus manufacturer Gemilang International plans to deliver 140 electric school buses to California customers in 2022. The order of 120 units of 12-meter school buses and 20 units of 7.5-meter school buses is the company’s largest single order for electric buses to date.

Based in Johor, Malaysia, GML has manufactured bus bodies and assembled buses for over 30 years. The Hong Kong-listed company has been supplying electric buses to US customers since 2016, and has a presence in some 15 global markets. Recent projects include the Iskandar Malaysia Bus Rapid Transit (IMBRT), Sarawak’s first electric city bus for Kuching Metro, and an electric bus pilot for the Sabah government.

“GML has been supplying bus bodies for various EV makers such as BYD and CRRC to several markets, including Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, since 2015, and we expect more countries to catch up with the transition to EVs as an increasing number of climate change-mitigation commitments have been announced by governments around the globe,” said Mr. Pang Chong Yong, Chairman and CEO of GML.

Mr. Pang has his eye on the enormous school bus market in the US, and expects the recently-announced Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal to provide plenty of opportunity for e-bus builders.

“With the new plan to convert all 500,000 US school buses to zero-emission vehicles, we are confident to capture more market share with our 3 decades of industry experience, as well as our main competitive advantage—aluminium lightweight superstructure. The lightweight, corrosion-free technology originates from Switzerland, and has been proven by our customers from more than 15 markets around the world. Our buses last longer and are deemed to be safer than steel-bodied counterparts,” says Mr. Pang.

Source: Gemilang