Beijing, Aug 2 (IANS): The number of electric buses in Beijing will increase from the current 1,000 to 10,000 by 2020 in an effort to improve the environment, the Public Transport Group said on Wednesday.

The proportion of buses purely powered by electricity among the total public transport vehicles will increase from the current 10 per cent to 60 per cent in three years, Xinhua news agency quoted Zhong Qianghua, Deputy General Manager of the group, as saying.

Zhong said electric buses create lower emissions and less noise. Each of the vehicles can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45 tonnes every year, and the vehicles are free from PM2.5 emissions.

Recently, 50 new electric buses were deployed on two routes in Beijing's Yanqing district. It takes only around 20 minutes to charge a bus, and a single charge can power the vehicle for 80 km.

The two routes can transport 3.45 million people every year, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1,600 tonnes.

Currently the group operates about 1,020 bus routes in Beijing. By 2020, the group will be able to transport about 3.046 billion people per year.