The city of Windsor, Ontario, says it is purchasing up to 10 all-electric buses from BYD Co. Ltd. this year to place into city transit service. The company is also discussing the possibility of locating bus manufacturing operations in Ontario.

"One of our primary goals was to position Windsor among the first cities in North America to pioneer the efficient use of electric buses within its public transit authority and to establish Windsor as a hub for the development, manufacture and commercialization of products, including electric buses," says Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis.

Transit Windsor will integrate the 40-foot BYD buses into revenue service, which runs not only in Ontario, but also in Detroit. BYD and Windsor's municipal utility, Enwin Utilities, are also working on a master plan to repurpose batteries from retired electric buses into fixed energy-storage stations.

BYD notes that it is in the process of completing various certification processes in North America this year, and the company plans to begin pursuing wide-scale fleet sales once the first Windsor buses are delivered. BYD has delivered more than 300 all-electric buses worldwide to date and has orders for over 1,300 more in 2012.