Seventy electric buses with double the maximum range of conventional electric cars will go into use in June in northeast China's Jilin Province, a researcher said Friday.

The bus, driven by a Lithium-ion battery, can travel more than 300 km on a 20-minute battery recharge, compared with 100-150 km for conventional electric cars that usually take more time to recharge, said Xie Haiming, a researcher with the Lithium-ion Battery Material S&T Innovation Center of Jilin Province.

Xie said the increased range was gained by using the advance LiFeP04 battery, which was safer and had a longer life than the widely-used lead acid cell.

The government of Liaoyuan was buying 20 of the 24-seat buses and the Changchun city government had ordered 50.

The 24-seat buses are being made jointly by the Tongkun New Energy Technologies Co., Ltd and FAW Bus and Coach Company and will run on the roads in the provincial capital of Changchun City, and Liaoyuan, about 200 km to the south of Changchun, as of June.

Xie said such a bus would sell 500,000 yuan (73,145 U.S. dollars).

"The cost for every 100 km of travel by the new bus is 35 yuan, much lower than 120 yuan by petrol-driven buses," Xie said.

The battery on the new bus can be recharged up to 2,000 times for just 20 minutes each time, making it a good power supply for buses and taxies,Xie said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2009)