MINSK, 5 May (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko instructed to study the operation of electric buses of the Belarusian automobile engineering company MAZ as he got familiar with electric transport developments of Belarusian scientists, BelTA has learned.
Director General of OAO MAZ, the managing company of the holding company BelavtoMAZ Valery Ivankovich said that the enterprise is making prototypes of a MAZ-303 electric bus and is ready to launch the production of such vehicles. The president was made familiar with two identical buses but for the fact that one was electric and the other one diesel. “They are absolutely the same and have the same mechanisms. We used a lot of innovative technical solutions,” he said.
According to Valery Ivankovich, the electric bus is still a bit more expensive than the diesel one, but once the company launches large-scale production and improves the model, the price might drop significantly.
The head of state instructed MAZ to produce ten electric buses by May 2021 and deploy them in the Belarusian regions.
MAZ 303E10 became the first low-floor electric bus. It is powered by high-capacity batteries (412 Ah) with a high durability. The driving range of up to 300km puts the bus on the level with products of the world's leading manufacturers.
