[TusharK]

Optare PLC, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland in the UK has won the world's first electric double decker order. As part of the deal, 31 Optare MetroDecker EV double-decker buses will be supplied to Metroline and will be added to London's fleet next year.



The new electric double decker buses will ply on Metroline's 'route 43' from Friern Barnet to London Bridge and 'route 134' from North Finchley to Tottenham Court Road.

The Optare MetroDecker EV measures 10,500 mm in overall length and has a wheelbase of 5,350 mm. It has a total passenger capacity of 99 and the gross vehicle weight (GVW) is 18,000 kg. It is powered by 268 BHP electric drive with a maximum torque of 3,570 Nm. It uses three lithium iron magnesium phosphate battery modules with a combined energy output of 200 kWh. The bus is claimed to have a range of 170-230 km on a single charge.

Link to Team-BHP News

[V.Narayan]

A proud occasion for India and for Ashok Leyland. A journey of a thousand miles begins with that first step.

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

A proud occasion for India and for Ashok Leyland. A journey of a thousand miles begins with that first step.

Not having seen or heard of any development activity on electric buses by AL in India, I doubt any credit is due to the Indian organisation. I might be mistaken and I really hope that I am because electric buses designed for Indian conditions are really the need of the hour.

[harikrishna.te]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Not having seen or heard of any development activity on electric buses by AL in India, I doubt any credit is due to the Indian organisation. I might be mistaken and I really hope that I am because electric buses designed for Indian conditions are really the need of the hour.

There have been a lot of media reports about Ashok Leyland's electric bus program in India and major strides have been made by the manufacturer. There are also a couple of Chinese players in the market who have cheaper (discounted) products today. Almost all major CV makers have invested heavily in the EV program and it is not fair to assume there's no indigenous development.

[carmayogi]

Originally Posted by TusharK

It is powered by 268 BHP electric drive with a maximum torque of 3,570 Nm. It uses three lithium iron magnesium phosphate battery modules with a combined energy output of 200 kWh. The bus is claimed to have a range of 170-230 km on a single charge.

Wouldn't you love 3570 Nm under your right foot? I certainly would!

On a serious note, apart from price, the biggest barrier to adoption of EVs is range. This is why I feel buses are the way to go as we improve battery tech and charging tech globally. A bus route is set, sometimes set in stone thanks to bureaucracy. This way the entire life of the bus can be planned, keeping the range in mind. Buses can rapid charge for 5-10 minutes while the wait at the end of their route. Even these days, buses stop and park for a few minutes. Furthermore, brakes wear out less in EVs due to regenerative braking, as evidenced by few Tesla owners on YouTube who show 200k km cars on the original brake pads. They're also silent, which is nice for those living near depots or busy bus routes.

Finally, removing 1 diesel bus removes the equivalent of 27 cars worth of pollution according to studies here in NYC.

Total no brainer all across the world. Buses should lead the EV revolution.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Not having seen or heard of any development activity on electric buses by AL in India, I doubt any credit is due to the Indian organisation. I might be mistaken and I really hope that I am because electric buses designed for Indian conditions are really the need of the hour.

It is owned, I think, 100% by Ashok Leyland. After that it is a lesser consequence where the R&D was done - UK or India - most likely both. When I learnt to drive - not so long ago on the timescale of a nation's journey we struggled with third rate Ambassadors and Padmini's thanks to the license raj. So I firmly believe it is a matter of pride that Indian company's are selling designs owned by them to quality conscious European countries.

All,
Off Topic - on Team BHP I find an excess of grumbling and whining about our country, our industry and ourselves. Let's pause for a moment and celebrate what is going right in India - a lot is just that our one track media fails to capture it. On a similar subject of new energy sources - some of you may be aware that the wind turbine installed base in India is now ~38,000 MW the 4th highest in the world. And current projects on hand will take it to 60,000 MW by 2022. Our solar installed base has grown 8X from 2650MW in 2014 to ~20,000MW today. Just 2 examples out of ten more that can be quoted. And coming to our own industry we are building 94.2 lane kms of highways per day (figure for 2017-18). The last time we came within shouting distance of this pace was for a brief period in the second 5-year plan in the 1950s. Thank you for listening.

V.Narayan

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

All,
Off Topic - on Team BHP I find an excess of grumbling and whining about our country, our industry and ourselves. Let's pause for a moment and celebrate what is going right in India - a lot is just that our one track media fails to capture it. On a similar subject of new energy sources - some of you may be aware that the wind turbine installed base in India is now ~38,000 MW the 4th highest in the world. And current projects on hand will take it to 60,000 MW by 2022. Our solar installed base has grown 8X from 2650MW in 2014 to ~20,000MW today.
V.Narayan

So much this. The solar capacity is actually 24.4GW by end of FY18 (March 31st 2018). In FY18 alone, solar capacity grew by 10.4GW. All of this is actually at much cheaper price than power from coal.

Another important development in EV space is actually by a startup Ather Energy. I have been following EV developments from all over the world for the last few years and I can tell you that Ather s450 is as good as any other electric scooters out there if not better.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Optare PLC, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland in the UK has won the world's first electric double decker order.

The first order for electric double decker buses to TFL (Transport for London) was by the Chinese firm BYD for their pilot project of 5 buses back in 2016.

BYD will be supplying 37 electric double decker buses to TFL along with the 31 buses to be supplied by Optare.

[sandeepmohan]

I need to check who has supplied double deck electric buses in New Zealand. I have yet to spot one on the road and they are claimed to be running. A new bus company and fleet was recently deployed. Supplied by Scania, Alexander Dennis or Optare. The latter is a new player in NZ. The past fleet was mostly Scania or MAN.