Commercial Vehicle

Electric bus impresses

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Its been over four months after the Delhi Transport Corporatio­n (DTC) put an electric bus acquired from Chinese company BYD on trial. Industry sources claim that a DTC report has pegged its operationa­l and maintencan­ce cost to be lower than that of a CNG bus. A CNG bus is claimed to cost Rs.18.54 per km as compared to an electric bus which costs Rs.17.25 per km. The bus that DTC has on trial runs 250 km on a single charge, and is claimed to have consumed 27,368 units of electricit­y over the last four months. It translates to an average unit cost of Rs.10.66. A DTC official claimed that only the battery (in an electric bus) will require maintenanc­e. An area of concern however is be the initial capital required to acquire an electric bus. Buses like these cost in excess of rupees-two crore. DTC’s decision to acquire an electric bus will be influenced by the quantum of subsidy under the FAME scheme. Expressed an industry source that there is a need for viability gap funding to make electric buses successful.

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