Big shoutout to .anshuman for shooting these pictures & his coverage of the Auto Expo. Thanks for sharing, man!
Goldstone Inftratech Limited showcased two of their electric bus offerings at the Auto Expo. The all-electric buses are manufactured under a partnership with China's BYD Auto Industry Co. Ltd. - the largest electric vehicle maker in the world.
Highlights:- Upto 10 Tons of CO2 emissions saved every 10,000 km over regular buses.
- Buses already in service with Himachal Roadways and BEST, Mumbai.
- 250 km range @ 70 km/h and full charge time of 4 hours.
- Uses in-wheel motors, so they don't eat up into the cabin space.
- Electronically controlled air suspension system as standard.
The stall welcomes you with a large sign of both the logos - Goldstone as well their partner BYD:
First up is the
eBuzz K7 bus. It gets a big windscreen with opposite moving wipers, large rear view mirrors and separate low and high beams with fog lamps:
The front gets large Goldstone and BYD logos. The display bus is TS registered as the company is headquartered in Secunderabad:
The bus is 8,600 mm long, 2,465 mm wide and 2,930 mm tall. The wheelbase is 4,400 mm and the kerb weight of the bus is 9,500 kg:
The bus gets two doors and is designed for intra-city operations:
Of the 50,000 km that were run commercially, 22,000 km were done by the Himachal Roadways and 28,000 by the BEST in Mumbai:
The driver gets all the controls in an ergonomic position. The bus gets a digital driver information display and another separate display that can toggle between all the on-board cameras including the reverse camera and navigation:
The K7 gets 29 seats and an optional provision for one wheelchair. The seats are finished in a green and brown fabric - we hope the production-spec colours are not so loud:
The company's second offering is the
eBuzz K9. It gets a slightly revised front fascia with the headlamps now arranged in a vertical fashion:
The driver's cabin is similar to the K7, however the steering wheel gets a dual tone silver and black finish. The dashboard also appears to be slightly bigger:
The K9 is 12,000 mm long, 2,500 mm wide, and 3,300 mm tall and has a wheelbase of 6,100 mm. It houses 39 seats. This bus was also air-conditioned:
Goldstone BYD has won government contracts for supplying electric buses in 3 major cities - Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. See article below
Well they are walking the talk on this.
During my Kodiaq expedition last week and was following this bus which seemed to smoothly climb up the Rohtang Pass. We overtook it and later stopped to take some pictures. This bus passes us and the first thing, I noticed was how it whined quietly uphill. Caught up with it at the top of Rohtang Pass and noted it was a BYD electric bus.
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Vehicles are asked to produced emission certificates etc. We had some kind of on line permit. All I can say that it is a farce. I saw smoking Sumo's, old Innovas on the pass
KeSRTC will start testing of BYD electric buses in Trivandrum from 18th June. Bus has already arrived at Trivandrum. pic Courtesy KSRTC Facebook page.
