The University of California, Irvine has ordered 20 buses from BYD for $15 million. The e-buses will make the student-funded and -operated Anteater Express shuttle service 100% emission-free.

The vehicles are being built at the company’s Lancaster, California plant.

A survey of students last year found that, of an array of transportation options, the top priority was providing electric buses over conventional ones. Undergraduates voted to pay up to $40 per quarter to cover the bus purchase and other costs. Individual rides are free.

Going all-electric supports UC’s pledge to emit net-zero greenhouse gases from buildings and vehicles by 2025.

“This fall we will move our students in a fleet of zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles, and be the first university in the country to do so,” said UC Associate Vice Chancellor Dan Dooros.

“This forward-looking decision is proof of what many in higher education already know: that electric vehicles aren’t a far-off technology of the future, but are here and ready to be put to use today,” said Stella Li, President of BYD America.

Source: University of California, Irvine, BYD