Zhongtong commits to making low-emission bus and engine products more accessible to major cities around the world

Washington, D.C. (15 December 2021) – Zhongtong Bus Holding Co., Ltd., a leading bus manufacturer in China and the global market, has committed to make its low-emission bus and engine products more accessible to major cities around the world. Zhongtong pledges to ensure buses powered by “soot-free” engine technology will become available for purchase in 20 megacities in 2022, where fuel quality and distribution channel conditions permit. Zhongtong will also provide a list of soot-free bus and engine technology specifications available to purchase in each city, and will publicly report the number of soot-free buses and engines sold each year.

Zhongtong joins four other manufacturers that joined the Global Industry Partnership on Soot-Free Clean Bus Fleets in 2017: BYD, Cummins, Scania, and Volvo Buses. Together, these five manufacturers accounted for more than 7% of the total worldwide bus sales in 2018.

“Soot-free” is defined as including any combustion engine that meets either Euro VI norms first established in Europe or EPA 2010 norms first established in the United States, or a dedicated battery electric powertrain. Further reductions in climate impacts of soot-free buses are achievable with low-carbon fuels and engines that deliver the lowest life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions.

Soot-free buses can achieve up to a 99% reduction in black carbon emissions––or soot––a major air pollutant that damages public health and a potent short-lived climate pollutant that worsens climate change. Economic recovery in cities during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic era requires sustainable, climate-friendly, and healthy public transportation solutions. Zhongtong’s commitment signals that more bus manufacturers are ready to make this a reality.

The Global Industry Partnership on Soot-Free Clean Bus Fleets is an initiative led by C40 Cities, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), Centro Mario Molina Chile, and UN Environment. The cities involved in the scheme are Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Lagos, Lima, Manila, Mexico City, Nairobi, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Sydney.

“Zhongtong Bus welcomes the opportunity to participate in the CCAC Global Industry Partnership on Soot-Free Clean Bus Fleets. It is an initiative that will do good to our business, to air quality in cities around the world, and to our climate,” said Yonghu Zhu, General Manager of Overseas Sales at Zhongtong Bus Holding Co., Ltd.