[Aditya]

Commercial vehicle major, Ashok Leyland is planning to launch Optare electric buses in India in 2015. The company even intends to start building the buses in the country.

Ashok Leyland will first display the vehicles at the Bus Expo, which will take place in Delhi early next year and then commence local production. The company's bus manufacturing facilities at Alwar in Rajasthan and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu are being considered for the same. These buses will be sold in India under the Ashok Leyland badge. The company is initially considering models like the Solo and Versa for local production.

These buses would have electric motors and batteries, which are likely to be imported from UK, US and China. For hybrid versions the diesel engines will be made by Ashok Leyland.

Additionally, the company has also displayed Optare buses in the Middle East and is considering the production of the vehicles at its facility in the Middle East.

Recently, Optare introduced a new lightweight double decker called the MetroDecker. Ashok Leyland, which is the only manufacturer of double deckers in India, hopes to learn from this product.

Ashok Leyland holds a majority stake in Optare PLC, UK. About 100 Optare buses are sold in UK every year with the support of the government.

Source: Economic Times

[NPV]

Here's another report from the Indian Express, Bangalore Edition 16 Oct 2014.

[Ashley2]

Solo is the right product for the diesel electric hybrid. This should cost lesser but still will be able to carry more passengers. Thanks to it's higher width. It attracted more people, even when it was showcased in Auto Expo2012. It's only Ashokleyland delayed it's production citing reasons of higher input cost and not meeting the target price.

[teamveevee]

In a country like India where electricity is expensive, it does not make sense to run buses on Electricity only. Hybrid bus is a good idea, again it is not cost effective at the current battery price. Cities abroad promote Electric vehicles to reduce pollution. With out support from the government it does not make sense for any RTC to operate electric/hybrid buses.
It may be a good idea for AL to assemble these buses in India for export purpose.

[Ponbaarathi]

The Hinduja flagship Ashok Leyland has launched its first locally designed, engineered and produced battery electric bus series Circuit.

The company has developed the circuit series electric bus, a zero-emission product, with some technology inputs sourced from its UK subsidiary Optare, which is a pioneer of electric buses.

“Depending on the configuration and battery sizes, we can extend up to 300 km. These buses can cost anywhere between ₹1.5 crore and ₹3.5 crore depending on the number of seats and battery sizes,” Vinod K Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland said, while unveiling the bus here.

Battery for these buses will be imported from US and is expected to last five to seven years. The local content in the bus is about 30-40 per cent.

It will have a seating capacity for 31 passengers though it will be available in multiple configurations based on customers’ requirements.

It comes with several benefits such as zero emission, longer life cycle, lower maintenance costs and higher residual value when compared with conventional diesel buses, the high initial cost is one of the major barriers.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle9230282.ece