Keihan Bus, which is headquartered in Kyoto City, will switch some routes to electric buses from the new fiscal year to verify the effect in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This was revealed at a press conference by Keihan Bus, Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., and the Chinese manufacturer "BWD Japan," which supplies electric buses to more than 50 countries.
According to this, the four buses operating on the lines connecting Keihan Shichijo Station and JR Kyoto Station will be switched to electric buses, and demonstration experiments will be conducted.
An electric bus can travel about 200 kilometers on an hour and a half charge, which means that the target route can reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 38 tons compared to conventional diesel buses.
In addition, since the fuel cost can be reduced to about one-third, we will confirm the effect of greenhouse gas reduction and the timing of charging during operation in the demonstration experiment.
If the effect is confirmed, Keihan Bus plans to switch all 630 buses it owns to electric buses by 2050.
Kazunari Suzuki, president of Keihan Bus, said, "It is easy to think that environmental protection and the economy are incompatible, but electric buses also lead to cost reductions, so I would like to actively work on them."