BYD unveils battery-electric coach C12 for the UK

BYD unveiled its recently announced electric coach for the UK market at the Euro Bus Expo in Birmingham. The 12.3-meter-long C12 DUO seats up to 57 passengers and, according to BYD, has a range of up to 340 miles —approximately 547 kilometers.

BYD recently announced its plans to enter the UK market with an electric coach. Frank Thorpe, BYD’s Managing Director of Commercial Vehicle UK, shared this news in an interview, stressing that the model was developed specifically for the UK. The C12 DUO has now made its world premiere at the Euro Bus Expo. The fully electric coach features an LFP battery, with two available battery configurations of 429 kWh and 495 kWh.

BYD has revealed the coach planned for entry in the UK has the same drivetrain setup as BYD’s urban and intercity buses, with two wheel hub motors of 150 kW each. While BYD’s press release for the electric coach’s world premiere does not give details on its drivetrain, the Chinese automotive giant says its high-decker can charge at up to 215 kW and has a range of up to 340 miles (approximately 547 kilometres).

The new model measures 12.3 x 2.55 x 3.54 metres with a wheelbase of 6.15 metres. In the coach segment, luggage space is a critical consideration, and BYD has equipped the C12 DUO with up to four cubic metres of luggage capacity, which is slightly less than in conventional coaches of this size. However, there are no compromises in passenger capacity as the C12 DUO provides seating for up to 57 passengers.

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BYD has installed its “Blade Battery” in the high-decker exclusively on the vehicle frame. The manufacturer says the battery packs are directly integrated into the frame, which is said to increase torsional rigidity while simultaneously reducing the vehicle’s weight. The company offers a 15-year warranty on the battery.

BYD management explains that the vehicle has been developed primarily for tour operators, school transport, and scheduled services between cities, towns, airports, and event venues. Build Your Dreams (BYD) aims to prove that electric passenger transport is also feasible over long distances — “without compromising range, passenger comfort or operational efficiency”.

Thorpe recently said that the success of BYD’s BEV buses in the UK in the double-decker and single-decker segments motivated the expansion into the coach sector. BYD has reportedly delivered or has orders for more than 3,000 electric buses in the UK. Currently, BYD offers single-deck buses in the UK in lengths of 11.8 m, 10.8 m, 10.4 m, and 9.9 m, as well as double-decker BD11 in lengths of 10.6 m or 10.9 m, with a maximum battery capacity of 532 kWh.

“The transition to zero-emission commercial transport is no longer a distant goal, it is an operational reality,” said Frank Thorpe, Managing Director, BYD UK Commercial Vehicles. “With the debut of the C12 DUO, we are demonstrating that sustainable, long-range electric travel is feasible across every transport segment, from dense city centres to intercity corridors across Europe.”