On 26 August a new fleet of 214 electric buses headed to the south of Santiago de Chile has been presented. The new vehicles, provided by Chinese Yutong, will operate on 13 services, which will benefit more than 280,000 people per week.
According to the Minister of Transport, Juan Carlos Muñoz, the buses will renew the fleet of the Voy Santiago carrier, operating within the RED network.
According to a 2023 study by Centro Mario Molina Chile, together with the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Rapid-deployment Accelerator) partnership of C40 and ICCT, the economic competitiveness of electric buses resulted in a TCO 32% lower than the TCO of their diesel counterparts.
Yutong electric buses for Santiago de Chile
Latin America appears to be a performance leader when it comes to electric bus deployment. As of late 2023, there were 5,083 electric buses in operation across Latin America (over 2,000 were in Chile, where Chinese Foton is the most represented manufacturer thanks to a deal landed in 2022 for over 1,000 e-buses) according to the E-Bus Radar launched in May 2020.
San Bernardo, El Bosque, La Cisterna and La Pintana are among the main district that will witness the new vehicles in operation.
The 214 new buses feature security cameras, wifi, USB chargers, air conditioning and better accessibility conditions for users with disabilities. They are 9 and 12 metres long and have an estimated capacity for 90 passengers for the longest buses.
With this renovation, Voy Santiago has 100% of its fleet operating with RED standard, leaving its old orange buses only as a reserve in case of contingencies.