Ashok Leyland subsidiary Switch Mobility has expanded its reach in the electric bus market with the launch of the new EiV 22 double-decker e-bus. Sharing the underpinnings of the EiV 12, the V Ei22 is India’s first all-electric air-conditioned electric bus and has a range of up to 250km per charge. Switch Mobility has already received orders for the bus which will be used by Mumbai’s BEST. The order is for 200 buses with Switch Mobility to handle the vehicle’s operations and maintenance through its subsidiary OHM Mobility.
Speaking to carandbike, Mahesh Babu, CEO, of Switch Mobility India said that the buses would be operated out of two depots – Kurla and Colaba - with the first units to be delivered in Q4 FY2023.
“So we are going to start the supply from the last quarter financial year and close the order by June,” Mahesh Babu said. Speaking on the vehicle’s operations he added “The BEST team will hand over two depots to us, one is likely to be Kurla and Colaba. They will house the buses. Their chargers will be deployed at these two depots and we will use them exclusively for it.”
The double-decker bus has a seating capacity of up to 65 passengers with the lower deck also designed to accommodate standing occupants. The EV 22 uses a 231 kWh capacity Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NMC) battery pack featuring liquid cooling and dual gun charging – the same as on the EiV 12. The electric bus features a powertrain supplied by Dana with the battery pack assembled at the company’s plant. The battery cells meanwhile have been sourced from China.
Babu also said that the company’s previous expertise in making an electric double-decker bus for UK markets played a role in the development of the model. Answering a question on the topic, he told carandbike, “Substantially, absolutely, all the operational runnings, some of the lightweighting of the technologies, we have used from that here. A lot of learnings have been cross deployed into the Indian design.”
Switch says that the new EiV 22 despite having an additional deck and more passenger capacity, it weighs only about 18% more than the EiV22. To ease of ingress and egress the buses will be equipped with front and rear doors and a pair of stair cases to access the top deck.
Switch has said that the new EiV 22 will attract benefits under the FAME II scheme with the buses being manufactured at its plant in Ennore, Tamil Nadu. The buses will be manufactured as powered chassis units at the plant with the body for the buses for Mumbai being manufactured by a partner on the outskirts of the city.
