Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Motors Inc. has revved up its commitment to Lancaster with expanded plans to make buses and other vehicles in the Antelope Valley. On Oct. 6, the company held an opening ceremony for its larger Lancaster factory that now tops out at 450,000 square feet. More than 800 people attended the event. But as Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris pointed out in his remarks to the crowd, this is only the start for what the company has planned – and the expanded factory is only the “small” section of BYD’s operations. BYD has purchased 150 acres on the west side of the city to construct another manufacturing plant starting next year. “We are going to be a major manufacturing center of the country, make no mistake about that,” Parris said in an interview following the ceremony. Bipartisan presence Attended by federal, state and county political representatives from both parties, the speakers highlighted two major benefits of the BYD factory – the jobs its creates and the environmental benefits of its electric vehicles. “The fight for air quality and clean energy are some of the most important issues of our day and BYD is working to do its part to ensure that future generations will enjoy these benefits,” said company founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu, speaking to the crowd through an interpreter. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), the California Senate President Pro Tem, said that California has proven to skeptics, especially in Washington, D.C., that it can grow its economy and create jobs while pushing for environmental policies for clean air and reduced emissions. “BYD is proof positive we have turned clean energy into a pillar of our economy,” de Leon said. Other speakers at the event included Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the House majority leader; Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger; Congressman Steve Knight (R-Palmdale); Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-San Pedro); former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had been in office when BYD opened its U.S. headquarters in the city; and Rusty Hicks, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. New jobs BYD Motors is the U.S. subsidiary of Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturer BYD Co. Ltd. Its Lancaster facility opened in 2013 and now employs more than 700 workers. The company is adding about 20 new workers a week, said Macy Neshati, senior vice president of BYD Heavy Industries. The company’s plans for its new factory on the city’s west side follows an aggressive timetable of having it all planned, permitted and breaking ground in early 2018, said City Manager Mark Bozigian. What it means for the city is that BYD is committed to taking a stake in North America. “They are doubling down their bet on the city of Lancaster and California and L.A. County,” Bozigian said. “There are many more jobs coming that will benefit the county.” It is the city’s anticipation that BYD will use its existing plant for making the buses. Other vehicle lines, including electric delivery trucks and trash haulers, will be produced in the new plant, he added. “That is up to them and what makes most sense,” Bozigian said. Parris said that if a manufacturer comes to Lancaster, the city staff gets involved to resolve whatever problems they have. “Look what it has brought to us,” Parris said, referring to BYD. “We went from 24 percent unemployment and we’re down to under 4 (percent) now.” Growing customer list BYD is currently building buses for the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, Long Beach Transit, the Washington State Department of Transportation and Stanford University. The Antelope Valley transit agency was the first customer for BYD, taking delivery of it first buses three years ago. The agency has plans for an all-electric fleet by the end of next year, said Len Engel, the agency’s executive director. Not only is the authority helping in providing jobs but also showing other transit agencies that an all-electric fleet is possible, Engel said. “We are able to prove it over longer and shorter routes that it can be done,” he explained. The authority will be using 40-foot transit coaches, 45-foot commuter coaches that travel down to the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles, and 60-foot articulated buses. At 1,200 square miles, the AVTA’s territory is just a couple hundred square miles smaller than the 1,400 square miles covered by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro. In July, the Metro board awarded a $48 million contract to BYD to build 60 electric buses for use on the Silver Line service between El Monte, downtown Los Angeles and San Pedro. The opening ceremony featured tours of the expanded factory, taking visitors past partially built single vehicles and articulated buses. Brian Rippie, sales director for forklifts at BYD Heavy Industries, was among the employees giving the tours. Right now forklifts are imported into the U.S. from China and there is a distribution center in Lancaster in the same building where the battery packs for the buses are assembled, Rippie said. But the company wants to make the lifts domestically. “It is a long-term goal to do that work here,” he added.