JBM electric bus flagged off
As part of a pilot project in Delhi, JBM Solaris electric bus could pave the way to the future.
As part of a pilot project in Delhi, the JBM Solaris electric bus could pave the way to the future.
JBM Solaris commissioned their first electric bus as part of the pilot project in Delhi recently. Flagged off by Kailash Gahlot, Minister of Transport, Delhi, in the presence of Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group, and Varsha Joshi, Secretary Transport & Power, Government of NCT Delhi, the eBus, called Eco-Life, is claimed to have a range of up to 200 km with a daily operation of 10 to 15 hours. To run on the ‘Teevra Mudrika’, or the Outer Ring Road route, the ebus is expected to eliminate approximately 1000 equivalent tonnes of Carbon Dioxide and 3.50 lakh litres of fuel that would be consumed by an internal combustion engine over a period of 10 years. Equipped with LithiumIon batteries and a charging station at Lajpat Nagar DTC depot, the vehicle is fitted with a pantograph to ‘opportunity’ charge. If this would help to
reduce the charging time employing conventional plugin charging procedure, the ebus is claimed to have a local content of over 50 per cent. Made at the JBM facility at Koshi, Uttar Pradesh, which has an installed capacity to manufacture 2000 electric buses each year, the ebus, measuring 12 m in length, is capable of ferrying 38 (36+2 folding seats+Driver) people. Powered by a 160 kW motor, the ebus has its lithium-ion batteries located at the rear. Said to deploy the latest technology that is found on Solaris electric buses plying in Europe, the ebus is riding on the confidence of the company that the pilot project will be successful.
Keen to scale up and carve out a good share of the burgeoning ebus market in India, JBM Solaris, a joint venture between JBM Group and Solaris Bus & Coach, Poland, is keen to align with the government’s vision for zero emission propulsion. Said to have been setup with an investment of Rs.300 crores in 2016, the joint venture company is looking at the support of the right infrastructure to develop ebuses for mass production. Expressed Arya, “Pollution is an increasingly serious health concern in cities. Studies have shown that 36 per cent of the pollution has its source within the city. Some three per cent of it could be associated with buses. This makes its imperative to shift mass public transport system from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuels on an immediate basis.” Looking at driving path-breaking innovation in the electric bus space, JBM Solaris, through its first offering, the Eco-Life, is highlighting zero-emission mobility in no uncertain terms. Working towards providing a complete ecosystem for electric vehicles as a onestop shop, the company is not restricting itself to Lithium-ion batteries. It is in fact exploring new technologies that would ensure higher efficiency and a longer life-cycle. Of the opinion that demand for electric vehicles – ebuses especially, will pick-up quickly, Arya opined that it would also ease some of the challenges that they are facing today.
With battery costs expected to come down due to an increase in their consumption, JBM Solaris, in India, is addressing infrastructural and other challenges. Its status as a leading auto components manufacturer and a manufacturer of low floor city buses has it in good stead. Tackling challenges pertaining to the manufacture and supply of electric buses is however there, and partly due to the new and different technologies at work, the company, according to Arya, is expecting volumes to pick-up quickly enough to offset the challenge
of setting up an (ebus) plant as of current. Mentioned Arya, “With ever-evolving technology in terms of Lithium-Ion, there are multiple chemistries available. These chemistries (such as Lithium-Ion Phosphate, Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt Oxide (NMC), Lithium-Polymer, Solid State, Aluminium or Metal) could help widen the horizon depending on their advantages and disadvantages.” Pointing at the influence of local and climatic conditions as far as batteries are concerned, Arya explained, “A certain battery would be better suited than the other.” “Even for that matter, Lithium Titanate batteries may also be considered for some locations,” he added. Of the opinion that every technology has its own benefits because of higher density or lower charging cycles among other parameters, Arya said that his company was looking into it. With 25 per cent vehicles expected to be electric by 2025 as per the draft on electric vehicles submitted by the Delhi Government, a right balance between demand and supply would be called for.
Striving to position itself such that it would be able to take advantage, JBM Solaris, according to Arya, is not restricting itself in any way.
Claiming that sustainable and scalable environment conditions are the need of the hour as far as ecofriendly technologies are concerned, Arya averred, “We are selling a complete EV ecosystem and not just a bus.” Pointing at the government envisaging a plan for EV proliferation, Arya mentioned that his company is also looking at a slew of technologies in the zero-emission domain. In the EV ecosystem, he said, we want to position ourselves at an advantage. We want to provide a well-to-wheel perspective. He stressed on the need to generate green energy and have the right charging systems. “We want to put in place the right set of buses,” added Arya. Of the opinion that the buses need to address safety, reliability, comfort, and user-friendliness, Arya expressed that there are many technologies that have the potential to make it to the top. “They only need to be harnessed,” he mentioned. “With maturity and track record an important consideration in the case of zero-emission technologies, electric looks the most promising at the moment.
It is a technology that could be suitably adopted in one form or the other. An area of viability in such terms is battery swapping.
If it is feasible for heavier commercial vehicles needs to be evaluated. The size of a battery pack in a heavy commercial vehicle could pose a challenge,” opined Arya. There is also the element of safety, he said. Touching upon the availability of battery swapping infrastructure in a vast country like India, Arya stated that the investment required would be substantial.
Banking on ‘pantograph’ technology to ensure opportunity charging, JBM Solaris is also looking at offering the necessary flexibility to successfully operate an electric city bus. In doing so, it is looking at minimising the time taken to charge an electric bus at the end of the day’s operation. Of the opinion that battery swapping is a good technology on paper, Arya expressed that its application in actual could be difficult. He stressed on the importance of understanding how it could be achieved. Confident that the ‘pantograph’ technology on the Eco-Life will reduce charging time drastically, Arya explained that it can facilitate faster charging in a day-to-day operation. Terming JBM Solaris as technology agnostic, Arya revealed that they were exploring different technologies.