Alexandria in Egypt will be the first city in the Middle east to operate electric buses. The news were confirmed with the announcement of the arrival of the first electric bus from China which will service the Alexandria Corniche Road, according to the state-run Al Akhbar Newspaper.

The newspaper reported that ‘’the first electric bus has arrived in the port of Alexandria coming from the port of Shanghai, China, as part of a supply contract that includes 15 electric buses.

The new bus will not be operating immediately, as it still needs to get used to new conditions in Egypt: “The new bus is scheduled to enter the transport system after a three-month trial”, said chairman of the General Authority for Passenger Transport in Alexandria Khalid Eliwa , adding that the 14 other buses which were agreed upon will make their way to Egypt once the three-month trial ends, as "to ensure the highest performance under the weather conditions in Egypt".

“The electric bus can carry 90 passengers and its batteries can be charged every three to four hours, allowing it to travel 250 kilometers without air-conditioning or 210 kilometres with air conditioning on”, Eliwa added.

Back in January, it was announced that Egypt was receiving 15 electric buses as per an agreement with Chinese company BYD. The new buses have zero pollution rate, Wi-Fi connection, air conditioners, and can be tracked through GPS. This will make Egypt the first contry in the Middle East to operate electric buses.

Main image from Middle East Monitor