Chinese automaker BYD Motors has confirmed its plans to open a new facility for manufacturing electric buses in California city of Lancaster, US.
Additionally, the company will open an Iron-Phosphate energy module (large-scale battery) manufacturing facility in Lancaster, which will be used to power the electric buses.
The opening marks the first manufacturing plants for the Chinese auto maker in the US.
Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris said: "The opening of not one, but two manufacturing facilities will provide local workers with hundreds of jobs as BYD expands its operations here in the United States, and also represents a significant investment into our local economy and in California."
Scheduled to start operations in the coming months, the bus manufacturing plant would have a capacity of producing 50 buses a year within two years, while the capacity would be increased to 1,000 buses per year within a decade or two.
Initially, the company would produce ten electric buses for the city of Long Beach, as part of $12.1m contract signed in April 2013.
BYD's electric bus, known as K9, is 12m long and is aimed at achieving a range of 155miles on a single charge.
