Hyundai to supply Iwasaki Group with electric buses for use on Japan's Yakushima Island

Hyundai Motor will supply five electric buses to Japan's Iwasaki Group for use on the Unseco-designated Yakushima Island.

Hyundai Mobility Japan CEO Cho Won-sang, right, poses with Iwasaki Group CEO Yoshitaro Iwasaki after signing a letter of intent to supply five electric buses to the company on Thursday. The Elec City Town buses will run on routes on Yakushima Island. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor will supply five electric buses to Japanese tourism service company Iwasaki Group that will run on routes on Yakushima Island, part of which has been designated a World Natural Heritage site by Unesco for its forest ecosystem.

The Korean automaker will start supplying the buses in the fourth quarter of this year, with plans to complete the supply by the first quarter of 2025, as outlined in the letter of intent signed with Iwasaki Group on Thursday, Hyundai Motor said Tuesday.

The buses, called the Elec City Town, have been custom designed for operations on the island, according to Hyundai. They are medium-sized low floor buses that span nine meters (30 feet) in length and are equipped with 145 kilowatt-hour capacity batteries with a maximum output of 160 kilowatts.

Yakushima Island is situated off the southern coast of Kyushu, Japan. It is a region where air pollutants have to be controlled and natural preservation is necessary.

Hyundai Motor's Elec City Town bus [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

The CEO of the Japanese group, Yoshitaro Iwasaki, said they had chosen Hyundai Motor’s electric buses over those manufactured by Chinese firms for their credible quality.

“We plan to replace all vehicles running on Yakushima Island with electric vehicles,” he said through Hyundai’s news release.

“It is an honor to supply Hyundai Motor’s first-ever electric bus, the Elec City Town, for use at Yakushima, a Unesco-designated World Natural Heritage site,” an official from Hyundai Motor said.

"We will strengthen our brand as the leader on the road to electrification by introducing electric vehicles. We will continue to present electricity-powered vehicles to local customers and aim to help in Japan's policy for carbon emissions reduction."

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]