[dZired]

Eicher Trucks & Buses has announced the introduction of AMT gearboxes in its range of commercial vehicles in India. The AMT technology will initially be available in the complete range of LMD (light and medium duty) and HD (heavy duty) buses as well as medium duty trucks sold by the manufacturer in the country. Eicher will further expand the presence of AMT gearbox in more segment vehicles sold under its brand.

The presence of AMT (automated manual transmission) gearbox eliminates the need for the driver to manually engage and disengage the clutch and operate the gear lever. The AMT module takes care of all these activities without any driver inputs. Eicher claims that this not only reduces driver fatigue but also improves concentration on the road, thus enhancing road safety.

The AMT technology used in Eicher commercial vehicles has been adapted from the OptiDrive technology developed by WABCO. Eicher's Pro series is the first range of vehicles to get the AMT technology. These vehicles also come with a hill start assist feature that stops the vehicle from rolling back while driving up a gradient. The company also claims that the inclusion of AMT will help reduce wear on transmission thus reducing the maintenance cost and increasing the vehicle's life. Eicher will be producing its range of AMT commercial vehicles at its production facility in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh.

Link to Team-BHP News

[i74js]

I am not sure about its success in trucks as Indian trucks tend to run with excess load, and access to good mechanics outside city limits is relatively difficult. This is certainly a good move for buses.

The TC based AT in Tata & Leyland buses have seen mixed success (from my experience in Delhi) as transmission system fails regularly along with other issues on these buses.

AMT, though not as good as TC, yet it may prove to be successful in buses because of its simplicity.

A good move !

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by dZired

Eicher Trucks & Buses has announced the introduction of AMT gearboxes in its range of commercial vehicles in India.

Kudos Eicher, this is a welcome move.

All said and done, the truck drivers and mofussil bus drivers are probably the ones that work for most hours a day, hauling these big machines on our roads. AMT would help reduce their fatigue levels significantly. On the other hand, the infamous 'jerks' that AMTs are notorious for in cars would be a non-issue in commercial vehicles. It's a win-win for both - drivers and passengers.

[Karthik Chandra]

Good move, a much needed one!!!

This will reduce the stress of commercial vehicle drivers, especially the ones driving city buses - its very cumbersome in traffic.

I'm travelling by bus to office for the last 1 week. Incidentally while travelling back home a couple of days before, I was standing near the driver and wondering 'how efficient and stress free it would be if these buses are equipped with AMT' and I get to see this news.

A stress free drive would inevitably lead to lesser incidents. The transmission, being AMT, would be as fuel efficient as MT and would also be cost effective.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by i74js

AMT, though not as good as TC, yet it may prove to be successful in buses because of its simplicity.

A good move !

Yes, but how would it fare on gradients like steep flyovers in traffic and stop go situations in ghats?
AMT struggle to handle them in normal passengers & the system take help from brakes to keep vehicle from rolling back. Imagine this punishment on the brakes of a Bus/truck.
I, personally, would be wary of sitting in one, on ghat sections.

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Yes, but how would it fare on gradients like steep flyovers in traffic and stop go situations in ghats?
AMT struggle to handle them in normal passengers & the system take help from brakes to keep vehicle from rolling back. Imagine this punishment on the brakes of a Bus/truck.
I, personally, would be wary of sitting in one, on ghat sections.

Volvo i-shift is an AMT. I see all new Volvo B9rs with them now and most of them operate on all those sort of roads everyday without any issues I suppose.

Still I would leave it to Ashley or some other poster with a better knowledge of these techs to answer the question.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by i74js

I am not sure about its success in trucks as Indian trucks tend to run with excess load, and access to good mechanics outside city limits is relatively difficult. This is certainly a good move for buses.

The TC based AT in Tata & Leyland buses have seen mixed success (from my experience in Delhi) as transmission system fails regularly along with other issues on these buses.

AMT, though not as good as TC, yet it may prove to be successful in buses because of its simplicity.

A good move !

What happened in Delhi is is more towards improper power train design. With limited boundary condition those were developed and hence the issue. Other big trouble was with Tata Marcopolo in BMTC and all the 100+ buses supplied were scrapped because of poor performance. Here also its attributed to inferior design. Otherwise Volvo has AT's and no issues reported so far.

In trucks when you look at anything beyond 6 speed GB, we don't have fully automatics in the range upto 16 speed. Even if someone develops, it will be twice as expensive as a regular AMT and size of GB will make it virtually impossible to pack it. All over, trucks and buses with more no of gears are with AMT only and India will move towards it. Volvo will make it standard in coming days to offer FH, FM range only with I-shift AMT's. Similarly Scania is moving towards Opticruise.

In India its since 5 years, Ashok Leyland introduced 'Leymatic' AMT in their buses. All their tarmac coaches are with 'Leymatic' as standard and 12M front engine buses are with option. 'Boss' was the first truck to feature AMT and its on sale for almost 3 yrs from now.

GoI is pushing these features in buses through Urban Bus Specifications, as buses should have either AT or AMT to qualify. Infact Eicher is the last to join this AT/AMT club as without this Eicher will not be qualifying.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Yes, but how would it fare on gradients like steep flyovers in traffic and stop go situations in ghats?
AMT struggle to handle them in normal passengers & the system take help from brakes to keep vehicle from rolling back. Imagine this punishment on the brakes of a Bus/truck.
I, personally, would be wary of sitting in one, on ghat sections.

AMT's need to be bundled with hill hold to over come this issues. This is not a complicated one and can be done easily and relatively simpler as well.

[GTO]

Can someone in the know share the price premium? In cars, it's usually around the 50,000 rupee mark.

I don't think highway truck operators will adopt the AMT as gearshifts are anyway infrequent on the open road. On the other hand, the AMT will be a godsend for city busses.

[Ashley2]

Around 50k to 75k in case of Leymatic (spec to spec same 6S 850 GB). Tata is yet to come out with AMT's. Their AT equipped buses comes as a bundle, otherwise Allison T270 costs around 2lks and T180 costs around 1.5lks. In case of Volvo and Scania now they are all std fitment and hence price isn't explicitly known. More over in case of Volvo the GB itself is completely different. B9R manual is 6 speed but i-shift is 12 speed. So price difference is very high.

[basoli]

This is great news, I'd love to convert one of these buses into a caravan and drive around everywhere, will be so much fun and convenient too.