With orders for 390 electric buses from 11 cities up for grabs, VE Commercial Vehicles, the third largest CV maker in India, has entered the fray by partnering alternate fuel technology specialist KPIT Technologies.
According to ETAuto, VE Commercial Vehicles will integrate KPIT’s indigenously developed electrification technology, Revolo, on its Skyline Pro platform. The plug-in hybrid vehicle from VE Commercial will be manufactured at the company’s plant at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh. The bus will have a range of 177 kms with air-conditioning on.
The technology will be adapted on the 9-metre long bus. It will have a capability to regenerate 36% energy, which will lead to less than 0.8 unit electricity per km.
With the electrification technology and the buses being developed in India, these vehicles truly embody the ‘Made in India, for India’ promise, VE Commercial Vehicles managing director Vinod Aggarwal said.
“Electrification is clearly the future. The shift to EV technology is opening up a number of opportunities for the economy. Along with the supporting policy framework, the EVs will have a positive impact on the entire ecosystem,” Aggarwal said.
About 30-35 electrified (full electric and hybrid) buses are plying on the Indian roads and each of these buses comes at a price of Rs 2 crore. Thanks to the push by the government, electric mass public transportation is set to get a boost.
An Rs 800-1,000 crore order is up for the grabs from 11 cities, including for buses and other vehicles for public transport.
The minister of heavy industries and public enterprises, Anant Geete, in December announced that the Government would provide a Rs 437 crore subsidy to 11 cities for launching electric buses, taxis and three-wheelers.
The cities are Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati. The nine big cities on the list will be given a subsidy for 40 buses each while Jammu and Guwahati will get for 15 buses. Subsidy for taxis will be given in Ahmedabad (20 taxis), Bengaluru (100 taxis), Indore (50 taxis) and Kolkata (200 taxis) based on demand. Bengaluru will get a subsidy for 500 three-wheelers, Indore for 200 and Ahmedabad, 20. This comes to a total of 390 buses, 370 taxis and 720 three-wheelers.
VE Commercial Vehicles wants to ensure that it bags a part of the 390 buses order, for which the final date of bids submission is February 28.
The Revolo kit, which was designed for cars and SUVs, has been successfully adapted for the bus segment through this partnership with KPIT. Revolo comprises an architecture that enables a lower voltage and significant amount of electricity regeneration to deliver optimum mileage from the same battery size, the company said.
The system uses lithium-ion batteries. It further ensures that the AC operations are independent of the kilometres driven and the range isn’t impacted with halts or stops during the journey.
