Tata Motors Delivers First 20 Electric Buses To West Bengal; 60 More To Be Delivered Soon

Tata Motors is set to supply 80 electric buses to the West Bengal Transport Corporation. 20 of these buses have already been delivered while 60 more buses would be delivered in a phased manner.

Tata Motors Delivers First 20 Electric Buses To West Bengal; 60 More To Be Delivered Soon

It is a move that can easily be considered one of the biggest pushes for electric buses in the country, and the biggest in the state of West Bengal. Tata Motors initiated the delivery of 80 buses to the West Bengal Transport Corporation.

Tata Motors started off by delivering 20 units of the 9m Starbus Ultra Electric buses, while 20 more units of the same bus would be delivered before 31 March. The West Bengal Transport Corporation also awaits delivery of 40 12m Starbus Ultra electric buses, which will be done in a phased manner.

Tata Motors Delivers First 20 Electric Buses To West Bengal; 60 More To Be Delivered Soon

The chief minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee, and other dignitaries from the state and also from Tata Motors were present at the event. Mamata Banerjee did the honours by flagging off the buses.

Rohit Srivastava, product line head of passenger commercial vehicles for Tata Motors was quoted as saying, "With growing environmental concerns, electric buses are a symbol of future mobility. Tata Motors has always been at the forefront of the E-mobility evolution and this order is a testament of our best-in-class solution tailored for the bus segment in India."

Tata Motors truly has been at the forefront of the development of electric commercial vehicles in India and as said, if the future is electric, which it is, buses are the way to go forward. Millions of people use buses in India every single day and lakhs of litres of diesel are currently used to run these buses.

Tata Motors Delivers First 20 Electric Buses To West Bengal; 60 More To Be Delivered Soon

Usage of electric buses in urban areas is the starting point for a reduction in the usage of diesel. Tata Motors has more than 255 buses on order from various state and city transport authorities across India and West Bengal was one of them.

The electric buses are manufactured at Tata Motors' plant at Dharwad in Karnataka. The 9m Starbus Ultra electric bus has a seating capacity of 26 and a standing capacity of 13 while the 12m variant has a seating capacity of 40 and a standing capacity of 22.

Both buses are driven by a 145Kw PMAC traction motor, but the range differs due to the difference in size and weight. The 9m variant has a range of up to 215 kilometres while the 12m variant has a range of up to 151 kilometres.

Tata Motors Delivers First 20 Electric Buses To West Bengal; 60 More To Be Delivered Soon

The buses take around 3 hours to charge up fully on fast charge mode or 6-7 hours with slow charging. Performance is just adequate with a top speed of around 75km/h. These buses are unique in the fact that the batteries are mounted on the rooftop, close to the AC unit. Tata Motors say that this has been done to prevent waterlogging near the battery hold.

The batteries are also liquid-cooled to enhance operational life. Tata Motors has installed charging stations at Nonapukur, Kasba, Newtown and Belghoria. Intermediate charging terminals powered with fast charging have been installed at Howrah and Santragachi.

Thoughts On Tata Motors Electric Buses In West Bengal

The electric buses delivered to the West Bengal Transport Corporation has will result in huge savings for the transport corporation. The buses will also reduce pollution drastically and this is good for the state. Several states have already placed orders for electric buses, but the country as a whole needs to move towards electrified mobility in order to have sustainable development.

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Article Published On: Thursday, February 21, 2019, 15:12 [IST]
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