Kazakhstan - Astana Motors of Almaty in March this year it had begun to assemble Chinese buses from Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Co Ltd of Xiamen, according to Adilbek Gayev, the head of distribution for commercial vehicles at Astana at Busworld Central Asia in June.  On display was the electric 12m XML6125CLE model. Equipped with a Lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO) battery (LFP 576 VDC / 540 Ah (311KWh)), it can carry 40 passengers up to 350km on a four-hour charge. It featured ZF RL82EC independent front axle and ZF AV 132 rear axle. The XML6125CLE, like most of Golden Dragon’s current range, has a monocoque body which has been electro-plated in a series of coats and polymers, thus increasing the strength and corrosion resistance of the body. Buses with this “e-coating” not only have decreased maintenance costs but are enabled to have lighter and thinner body frames – a particularly important consideration for electric buses.

In China, Golden Dragon has three manufacturing plants producing 40,000 units each year. Plans for the Astana plant are more modest: At present, Gayev indicated the Golden Dragon buses on display at the show were the only ones yet to have been produced at the Astana plant. However, Golden Dragon’s strong historical sales in the region do point towards demand for locally assembled Golden Dragon buses, which can be sold without tariffs within Kazakhstan, and exported without tariffs to other CIS countries.