Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday unveiled India's first electric double-decker air-conditioned bus, at Y B Centre in South Mumbai.
Taking to Twitter, Gadkari shared some glimpses of the newly-launched bus and wrote, "Ushering Sustainable Revolution! It gives me immense pleasure to launch the Ashok Leyland's Electric Double Decker Bus in Mumbai today. These buses will replace the existing double-decker fleet of the BEST (Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport) undertaking."
Ushering Sustainable Revolution!
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) August 18, 2022
It gives me immense pleasure to launch the Ashok Leyland's Electric Double Decker Bus in Mumbai today. pic.twitter.com/lTP4Jhosb0
"Giving Dynamic Boost to the sustainable transportation sector, such initiatives are cost-effective solutions & achieve PM Narendra Modi Ji's vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat by cutting down oil imports and promoting indigenous resource & services," he added.
The double-decker bus is called switch EiV 22 and will run from September.
New generation AC electric double decker buses of arrives #Mumbai. The manufacturer will officially unvail it on Thursday & @myBESTBus likely to introduce it in public service from September.#Mumbai #publictransport #doubledeckerbuses #ebuses #BEST #NewBusOfMumbai pic.twitter.com/Y7syECdJIi
— Kailash Korde (@kkorde01) August 17, 2022
As of now, Switch is operating its twin-floor electric AC buses in the United Kingdom. Switch India has already secured an order of 200 electric double-decker buses in Mumbai and is looking at a dominant space in the electric double-decker segment, across key regions in the country, the company said.
"We already have an order for 200 electric double-decker AC buses in Mumbai. We will deliver 50 of these buses this financial year. Many more cities are discussing with us for these buses," Mahesh Babu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Switch Mobility India and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Switch Mobility Ltd told the news agency, PTI.
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Babu said amid discussions with multiple players, "we are expecting to deliver some 150-250 buses next year."
Earlier, in April this year, Switch Mobility announced an investment of 300-million pounds to develop a range of electric buses and light commercial vehicles in India and the UK.
The electric double-decker AC bus EiV22 is powered by a 231 kWh capacity battery pack with a dual gun charging system, which allows the bus to have a range of up to 250 kms for intra-city transport, according to the company.
(With agency inputs)