Commuters in Ahmedabad will have eco-friendly bus rides beginning next year. Ashok Leyland, which has bagged the contract to operate electric buses in Ahmedabad, said the first 10 buses will debut in January and the rest 40 buses will start operating by April.
"We are working on flash charging buses. Ahmedabad will become the second city after Gutenberg in Germany to operate such buses," said Karthick Athmanathan, head -EV and eMobility Solutions of Ashok Leyland. He was talking to media persons on the sidelines of a summit organized in Ahmedabad by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on future of electric vehicle-based mobility on Friday.
Ahmedabad is among a few cities in India, that will take a lead in bringing electric vehicles for public transport. Other cities include Bengaluru, Mumbai, Indore and Jaipur. Athmanathan said that since the technology is new, government incentives will be needed till technology matures. "Technological developments and volumes are key to the cost of operations. Government regulations can play a key role in bringing down the costs," he said.
The contract to operate buses in on per kilometre basis and the company has undertaken a variety of tests to ensure that things go right when the service is launched. These include withstanding high temperature, working in Monsoon conditions and rides on inclines like flyovers. "Within three years, every mobility solution will have an electric mobility element into it. While the costs are prohibitive now, they will be more competitive than diesel operated vehicles in next five years," he said.
Sources in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation said that while the exact date of launch of the service is not finalized, Ashok Leyland has to decide when it is confident of launching the service. "These technologies are very new. They have not be used on a mass scale. Several things need to be tested. Even after so many years, there are issues pertaining to batteries used in mobile phones. Companies may have tall claims, but we notice that battery life depends upon a host of factors. Here we are driving battery operated vehicles. Traffic of Ahmedabad, braking and re-acceleration are just a few factors that will determine how these buses will fare in Ahmedabad," said a top official of AMC.
The officer said that cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Indore have taken a lead. Ahmedabad is also an early starter. So they have to make all the checks and experiment a lot. Things will be smoother for other cities, which will not have to reinvent the wheel. While other cities will use buses that have conventional charging, meaning that batteries will be charged at night and buses will operate during daytime, Ahmedabad will be early adopters of battery swapping along the transit.
New technologies being tested: AMC
The buses will have very new technologies. Also, a couple of things have to be tested. Even after so many years, there are issues pertaining to batteries used in mobile phones. Companies may have tall claims, but we notice that battery life depends upon a host of factors. Here we are driving battery operated vehicles. Traffic of Ahmedabad, braking and re-acceleration are just a few factors that will determine how these buses will fare in Ahmedabad,” said a top official of AMC.
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