Who makes these electric buses?

[Railcar]

My local 154 (London) bus route uses electric buses. On the window glass is written 'Alexander Dennis' who, I believe, make buses in Northern Ireland. The centre of the steering wheel has the logo 'BYD', which I believe is a Chinese firm. Where are these buses made - Northern Ireland or China?

 

[Resuwen]

ADL make buses in Falkirk and Yorkshire.

The BYDs had a Chinese chassis with ADL body.

 

[scosutsut]

As above, it would be considered an UK built Alexander Dennis body on a chinese BYD chassis, either a E200 MMC single decker or E400 City Double Decker.

They are no longer available, with both firms now offering products that are 100% their own.

 

[MotCO]

BYD stands for Build Your Dreams as far as I recall. They have now starting importing cars to the UK.

 

[ac6000cw]

The centre of the steering wheel has the logo 'BYD', which I believe is a Chinese firm.

BYD in China is largest electric bus manufacturer in the world (70,000 vehicles in the ten years to 2022), and a huge manufacturer of electric cars and vans etc. (over 4 million electric and hybrid cars sold in 2024, mostly in China)

 

[Railcar]

Thanks for the information. Having spoken to a driver, I understand that the batteries will give one day of service before a recharge.

 

[MCR247]

BYD stands for Build Your Dreams as far as I recall. They have now starting importing cars to the UK.

AFAIK build your dreams is a ‘backronym’ with BYD not actually
Standing for anything

 

[computerSaysNo]

My local 154 (London) bus route uses electric buses. On the window glass is written 'Alexander Dennis' who, I believe, make buses in Northern Ireland. The centre of the steering wheel has the logo 'BYD', which I believe is a Chinese firm. Where are these buses made - Northern Ireland or China?

It's Wrightbus who build buses in Northern Ireland. Wrightbus did previously offer to build their bodies onto a third party's chassis, for example there are lots of B5TL (Volvo chassis) Gemini 3 (Wrightbus body) vehicles all over the UK, but I believe Wrightbus no longer offer this as an option (they only offer complete vehicles now).

 

[W176 XMA]

AFAIK build your dreams is a ‘backronym’ with BYD not actually
Standing for anything

Some of the cars have Build Your Dreams written on them in full so it's a genuine acronym

 

[Resuwen]

It’s an abbreviation rather than an acronym unless you pronounce it byid rather than bee wye dee

 

[ClydeCoaster]

On the verge of veering way off topic but the company is BYD Auto Co Ltd, "Build Your Dreams" was a marketing slogan for their first North American Motor Show in 2008. Following customer feedback, they're dropping the spelt out Build Your Dreams badging on revised and future Atto and Dolphin models, already having been dropped on the Seal and Sealion.

Back on topic...you can't miss the stand alone 100% BYD bus - just keep your eyes out for the ugliest red double deck thing, and that's it

 

[37114]

My local 154 (London) bus route uses electric buses. On the window glass is written 'Alexander Dennis' who, I believe, make buses in Northern Ireland. The centre of the steering wheel has the logo 'BYD', which I believe is a Chinese firm. Where are these buses made - Northern Ireland or China?

When Alexander and Dennis were separate companies there was an Alexander factory in Belfast that made bodies primarily for the Ireland market. From recollection it shut as part of the merger post Transbus falling into administration in the early 2000s, a long time before the bus you saw was built

 

[Trainbike46]

My local 154 (London) bus route uses electric buses. On the window glass is written 'Alexander Dennis' who, I believe, make buses in Northern Ireland. The centre of the steering wheel has the logo 'BYD', which I believe is a Chinese firm. Where are these buses made - Northern Ireland or China?

The company that builds buses in Northern Ireland is Wrightbus from Ballymena - They have built quite a few buses for London as well operators across the UK, and have built almost all buses that operate here in NI. Their electric buses are mostly Streetdeck electroliner and Kite electroliner, double-deck and single-deck respectively.

I regularly see TfL-liveried streetdecks being loaded onto the Belfast-Liverpool ferry, and have spotted Portsmouth-bound and a few others as well.

 

[WibbleWobble]

It’s an abbreviation rather than an acronym unless you pronounce it byid rather than bee wye dee

The Chinese pronunciation is Biyadi, the BYD anacronym being an Romanisation of the Chinese lettering.

The company was originally named after Yidi Road, the road the original factory was built alongside, the "Bi" was to bump it up the listings at trade shows.

 

[Tom Gallacher]

When Alexander and Dennis were separate companies there was an Alexander factory in Belfast that made bodies primarily for the Ireland market. From recollection it shut as part of the merger post Transbus falling into administration in the early 2000s, a long time before the bus you saw was built

Used to be Potters Coachbuilders before Alexander's bought them out in the late 60's.

 

[MCR247]

Some of the cars have Build Your Dreams written on them in full so it's a genuine acronym

Having it on the cars doesn’t change the fact that it is a backronym designed to appeal to the West as other posters have since confirmed.

 

[Resuwen]

The point being an acronym is only an acronym if you can say it as a word eg NASA. Something like BBC is an abbreviation but not an acronym, and even if it was short for Build Your Dreams, BYD would be an abbreviation. But it isn’t.

 

[joieman]

On the verge of veering way off topic but the company is BYD Auto Co Ltd, "Build Your Dreams" was a marketing slogan for their first North American Motor Show in 2008. Following customer feedback, they're dropping the spelt out Build Your Dreams badging on revised and future Atto and Dolphin models, already having been dropped on the Seal and Sealion.

Back on topic...you can't miss the stand alone 100% BYD bus - just keep your eyes out for the ugliest red double deck thing, and that's it

The name "Build Your Dreams", although probably meant to be inspiring, sounds cheesy instead.

When the Chinese gave up ripping off other manufacturers' vehicle designs, they churned out something that looks as if they didn't hire an exterior designer at all. And, horror of horrors, companies actually started buying those buses without actually trialling it first!

 

[bluegoblin7]

It’s an abbreviation rather than an acronym unless you pronounce it byid rather than bee wye dee

The point being an acronym is only an acronym if you can say it as a word eg NASA. Something like BBC is an abbreviation but not an acronym, and even if it was short for Build Your Dreams, BYD would be an abbreviation. But it isn’t.

Actually an acronym is a form of abbreviation. BYD isn’t an acronym, correct, but to suggest that an acronym and abbreviation are different is technically incorrect.

You’re thinking of an initialiasm - also a form of abbreviation, but not an acronym.