After electric cars, now it is the turn to bigger vehicles coming in full electric format for mass transportation. Ashok Leyland, flagship of Hinduja group, has unveiled the India’s first electric buses at its corporate office, today in Chennai.

The company has launched the circuit series Electric Bus, a zero-emission product with some technology inputs, which is a pioneer of electric buses. It is designed and engineered entirely in India, and it is created specifically for Indian roads and load carrier.

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“Depending on the configuration and battery sizes, we can extend up to 300 km. These buses can cost anywhere between ?1.5 crore and ?3.5 crore based on the number of seats and battery sizes,” Vinod K Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland said, while unveiling the bus here.

The battery for these buses will be imported from the United States, and it is expected to last for five to seven years. The local content in the bus is about 30 to 40 percent. The Bus has seating capacity of 31 passengers and available in multiple configurations based on customer’s requirements.

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It comes with several benefits like zero-emission product, longer life cycle, higher residential value and lower maintenance cost when compared with other conventional diesel buses. The major barrier to this Electric Bus is its high initial cost.

These electric buses introduced in lines with the National Electric Mobility Plan which aims at 20 percent penetration of electric or hybrid vehicles by the year 2020. Apart from tailpipe emissions and lower noise pollution the bus offers reduced running costs to the operator.

The company will target metro circuit, city circuits, tarmac and heritage sites to sell these buses. Meanwhile, some states like Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra have been adopting such green buses, and the Ashok Leyland is in active discussions with them.

How Electric Bus Works?

Electric buses divide into two segments, battery or fully-electric buses and hybrid electric buses.

• In fully-electric buses, the battery gives the total energy needed for the operation. These battery buses have only one source which is in the form of battery.
• In AL circuit electric bus, the Li-on batteries supplies the necessary electric charge
• The battery can charge fully in three hours.
• The bus can travel up to 120km on a single charge. It indicates the caution with an alert system to the driver when the bus is running low on battery.

Other features include

• Onboard fire detection-suppression system
• Regenerative braking
• Advanced telematics for tracking
• USB mobile charges
• Onboard WIFI