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Tata Motors is supplying 40 units of the Ultra 9m AC electric bus to the Lucknow City Transport Services Ltd. (LCTSL). The buses will be delivered over the next 4 months. The first electric bus was flagged off on February 10, 2019.
The Ultra 9m AC electric bus is built at the Tata Motors and Tata Marcopolo Dharwad plants. It can seat up to 31 passengers and has features such as air-conditioning and air suspension on both, front and rear axles. The integrated electric motor generator of the bus has a peak output of 328 BHP and can deliver 194 BHP continuously. The bus comes with roof-mounted, liquid-cooled lithium-ion batteries that offer a maximum range of 150 km on a single charge. Tata Motors has also installed a fast charging station for buses at the Alambagh depot.
In addition to Lucknow, Tata will be supplying 255 electric buses to WBTC (West Bengal), AICTSL (Indore), ASTC (Guwahati), J&KSRTC (Jammu) and JCTSL (Jaipur).
Link to Team-BHP News
I don't think I have seen an EV bus review here on team-bhp yet. Could this be the first?
The battery placement is very surprising. It should be placed at the bottom. Its going to mess with the center of gravity of the bus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djoel99
(Post 4542850)
The battery placement is very surprising. It should be placed at the bottom. Its going to mess with the center of gravity of the bus.
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Mercedes Benz Citaro Hybrid has similar configuration with battery mounted on the top.
I am not an expert, but I am absolutely sure that the designers and engineers have definitely thought of the CG and stability of before dumping the company funds into the project.
Is it on some kind of trial runs in partnership with the transport authority or have they bought these buses outright?
Would be curious to know the realistic range. With AC, and passenger load would be interesting to see if it will be able to deliver 150 kms on a single charge as promised. Also how long does it take to charge fully to deliver that range? Bigger battery packs might need more time is what I am guessing.
Given the abundance of sunlight up north for most months around the year, wouldn't charging the batteries on the go with a solar panel on the roof help? I understand, all this is subject to economic considerations as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djoel99
(Post 4542850)
The battery placement is very surprising. It should be placed at the bottom. Its going to mess with the center of gravity of the bus.
|
Buses don't go as fast as cars and upon getting loaded with passengers the over all centre of gravity (CG) will still be within safe limits.
The battery packs are usually accompanied by a cooling system that circulated chilled coolant into the battery pack. The coolant in turn needs a refrigeration system to loose heat. We don't have enough room for all these at the belly of a bus.
Also placing the battery on the roof top protects the battery from a side impact or belly impact, and restricts easy access to laymen who wash and grease the bus.
And in the belly side EVs will be equipped with large electric motors which may some times need a full fledged cooling system like the battery. This may also consume space.
I guess with the buses being used for 'local' runs the CG is of no real import. I agree a lower position (underfloor) may have been preferable. Also unlike Mahindra, Tata have no experience in EVs. So this will be worth watching.
Government may blacklist Tata Motors for delaying delivery of e-buses.
Link
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