BYD Looks to Expansion of Lancaster, CA Plant

BYD started in California in 2011. Their first big order for an electric bus came from the City of Long Beach and now they have 60 new orders from Los Angeles Metro and with University orders from Stanford and Cal Berkeley. The BYD team has since established a manufacturing foothold in the Americas with the procurement of the Lancaster, California plant near Ave H and Division. The electric Bus is their foundation in Lancaster but they are working on production of electric trucks and forklifts, which they have recently started producing. They now have the largest single building in Lancaster with their 450,000 square feet facility with a total staff of 700 with plans of producing 1,500 electric buses per year. We also noticed they purchases 160 acres of land at 50th West at H according to public records. This is the only large parcel of land of this size in this area, but it is currently zoned as Rural Residential once house per 2.5 acres. It is hard to imagine that they bought this land without some zoning concessions from the city of Lancaster. This large parcel is about a mile west of Michaels Distribution center. Gas lines run on Ave H which also has electric power, but there is no water or sewage line to 50th West at this point. BYD purchased this property in 2016, so looks like some changes to the area are coming in the future.