{"id":35758,"date":"2013-05-01T16:00:41","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T23:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=35758"},"modified":"2013-05-07T14:51:26","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T21:51:26","slug":"lancaster-welcomes-byd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/05\/01\/lancaster-welcomes-byd\/","title":{"rendered":"Lancaster welcomes BYD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BYD<\/a>
BYD Coach & Bus is located at the former Rexhall Industries at 46147 BYD Boulevard (previously 7th Street West). The electric bus manufacturing facility is one of two BYD facilities in Lancaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 China-based BYD and the City of Lancaster held a press conference Wednesday to announce the arrival of two BYD manufacturing facilities in Lancaster \u2013 an electric bus manufacturing facility and an Iron-Phosphate energy module (large scale battery) manufacturing facility.<\/p>\n

\"Lancaster<\/a>
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris speaks at a press conference Wednesday to announce BYD’s arrival to Lancaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen you take China and put it together with the U.S., something different happens, something emerges,\u201d said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris.<\/p>\n

\u201cBYD and Lancaster share the same eco dreams. We are committed to promoting new energy products,\u201d said Stella Li, President of BYD Motors.<\/p>\n

BYD, short for \u201cBuild Your Dreams,\u201d is an international firm that specializes in rechargeable batteries, vehicle manufacturing and green energy technologies. BYD employs more than 160,000 people around the world, with operations in China, the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other regions. BYD\u2019s US corporate headquarters is located in Los Angeles, while the Lancaster facilities mark the firm\u2019s first manufacturing facilities in North America.<\/p>\n

\"BYD's<\/a>
BYD’s zero-emissions electric buses provide a range of over 155 miles on a single charge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWalking in the footsteps of Antelope Valley pioneers, BYD is bringing jobs and economic growth and vitality to the Antelope Valley and Los Angeles County,\u201d said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.<\/p>\n

BYD has purchased the former Rexhall Industries recreational vehicle manufacturing facility in Lancaster, at 46147 7th<\/sup> Street West (now BYD Boulevard), to house its electric bus manufacturing operations.<\/p>\n

Rexhall Industries will now combine its manufacturing operations with its sales facility on 23rd<\/sup> Street West, while President and Chief executive Officer of Rexhall Industries, William Rex, will stay on as General Manager for the new BYD Coach & Bus LLC. A number of current Rexhall employees will also stay on as the plant transitions to BYD ownership, city officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this arrangement, BYD benefits from a ready-made fully-permitted facility which perfectly suits its needs, and will also enjoy access to the expertise of highly trained personnel with extensive experience in the manufacturing industry,\u201d Parris said.<\/p>\n

BYD has immediate plans to produce 10 zero-emissions, all-electric buses for the Long Beach Transit Authority, thanks to a $12.1 million contract awarded to BYD in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s capable of manufacturing more than 1,000 buses per year,\u201d Li said of the new Lancaster facility. \u201cIf we keep our aggressive schedule, production will begin in October of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

BYD\u2019s second manufacturing facility is located about two miles away from the electric bus facility, city officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s across the tracks at the old Budweiser plant,\u201d Parris said, adding that Iron-Phosphate energy modules are much more than batteries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is, when you have cheap electricity at night, from wind and things like that, if you could store that then you don\u2019t have to power up the pollution producing plants during the day,\u201d Parris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people are doing clean energy, what we\u2019re doing here is pure energy, there is no downside,\u201d Parris continued.<\/p>\n

\"Lancaster's<\/a>
Lancaster’s Deputy Mayor Kit Yee Szeto and Councilmember Sandra Johnson toured the new electric bus Wednesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two manufacturing facilities, which will begin operating in the coming months, will provide local workers with hundreds of jobs as BYD expands its operations in the United States, according to Parris.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially there will be 200 [jobs] and then it will expand after that,\u201d Parris said. \u201cA lot depends on how quickly other transportation agencies start ordering the buses, but that\u2019s going to happen fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

BYD\u2019s relationship with the City of Lancaster began in 2009 when Antonovich introduced BYD representatives to City leaders.<\/p>\n

In 2010, Antonovich led a trade mission to China and invited Parris and City representatives to join the effort to attract firms to Lancaster. Parris and his team visited BYD\u2019s headquarters in Shenzhen to further develop the relationship.<\/p>\n

Upon returning to the US, Parris led an effort to partner with BYD and KB Home to create the \u201cHome of the Future,\u201d which used BYD solar panels, BYD LED lighting and BYD residential energy storage to create an affordable green energy home. (Read more here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cemented the concept in my mind that BYD must be part of Lancaster\u2019s future,\u201d Parris said.<\/p>\n

For more on BYD, visit www.byd.com<\/a> or www.facebook\/bydcompany<\/a>.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 China-based BYD and the City of Lancaster held a press conference Wednesday to announce the arrival of two BYD manufacturing facilities in Lancaster \u2013 an electric bus manufacturing facility and an Iron-Phosphate energy module (large scale battery) manufacturing facility. \u201cWhen you take China and put it together with the U.S., something different happens, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35758"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}