BYD busChinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has invested $5m in a 9,300 sq.m warehouse to free up space at its electric bus plant in Lancaster, California.

The new building currently stores around 15,000 different parts and will further streamline the handling of materials and supplies into the 41,800 sq.m manufacturing plant, the company said.

The facility is receiving on average 12 inbound deliveries a day, equalling 50 containers. The batteries for the buses are brought in from BYD Energy, which is located near to the bus plant, and stored in a dedicated unit.

[mpu_ad]The warehouse is the company’s fourth expansion on the site at Lancaster and brings total investment there to more than $53m.

BYD has delivered more than 270 electric buses in North America to date with an additional 80-plus in production, and 300 orders with options which could double that number. The company has capacity to produce up to 1,500 battery-electric buses a year.

BYD has also purchased additional land near the Lancaster plant and is planning service and maintenance centres across the US.