Ashok Leyland's electric mobility arm Switch Mobility has launched its Ei V 12 electric bus range for the Indian market. The new Switch Ei V12 is available in two variants - Low Floor and Standard, and the buses promise to offer reliability, range and comfort. The company says it currently an order for over 600 units for the 12-metre long buses. The new Switch Ei V 12 also gets the manufacturer's proprietary connected technology solution 'Switch iON', enabling remote, real-time diagnostics and monitoring services, as well as digital battery management tools. The EV architecture of Ei V platform is common with the recently launched European Switch e1 bus.
Commenting on the launch, Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Switch Mobility Ltd., said, "The launch of our next generation electric bus platform in India is an important milestone for Switch Mobility. Our aspiration is to make electric products more accessible in India, UK, Europe and many Global markets, contributing significantly to the rapidly growing zero carbon mobility. With a strong heritage and proven expertise of the Hinduja group and Ashok Leyland in the commercial vehicle market, we are confident that through more such offerings of electric buses and soon to be launched electric light vehicles, we will accelerate our vision to be at the forefront in this evolving market."
Mahesh Babu, Director & CEO - Switch Mobility India, and COO - Switch Mobility Ltd, said, "I am pleased to introduce Switch Ei V 12 platform in India which is built on the experience of 50 million electric kms globally. The platform has a unique, advanced, global EV architecture to deliver superior efficiency, safety, and reliability. The products on this platform have been designed with cutting-edge technology to deliver delightful customer experience. I strongly believe that Switch iON connected vehicle platform, offers multiple solutions to our fleet operators, to enhance the business value proposition. Our team is working actively to bring out multiple products as part of the Switch electric intelligent vehicle platform in the near future."
The Switch Ei V range of buses can meet intra and inter-city requirements. This includes staff, school and public transportation needs. The electric bus range is powered by the new-generation, lithium-ion NMC batteries that are said to be specifically formulated for the Indian climate and conditions. The company claims a range of 300 km per day on the Ei V12 buses, while the dual-gun fast-charging feature extends the range to 500 km per day. With a 98 per cent uptime, the buses promise high reliability, long battery life and a low cost of ownership. The Ei V range gets a PMS AC motor with 315 bhp of peak power (188 bhp continuous power) and 3,100 Nm of peak torque.
The company says its existing buses have clocked over 8 million km on India, which translates to savings of over 5,000 tonnes of CO2 or an equivalent of planting more than 30,000 trees. The Switch Mobility India team has over 450 employees at the moment and will grow its human resource network steadily in the next five years.
