E-bus trial kicks off in Delhi, tenders likely by Dec

he bus, manufactured at Rewari in Haryana, will run on route number 522, covering areas such as Ambedkar Nagar, Sheikh Sarai-II, Siri Fort, Defence Colony, Lodhi Colony, Mandir Marg, Rajendra Place and Inderpuri.

The Delhi government on Friday started running an electric bus on trial basis and said tenders for 1,000 such buses could be floated as early as December.

The trial run of the 33-seater bus will be conducted for three months. The bus is equipped with safety features such as four CCTV cameras, panic buttons, and a DC fast charging facility capable of fully charging the bus within 30 minutes (HT File Photo)

The bus, manufactured at Rewari in Haryana, will run on route number 522, covering areas such as Ambedkar Nagar, Sheikh Sarai-II, Siri Fort, Defence Colony, Lodhi Colony, Mandir Marg, Rajendra Place and Inderpuri.

“The trial run will be instrumental in understanding how modern low-floor pure electric buses adapt to Delhi’s road conditions, how efficient their batteries are and how quickly they can be deployed at our required scale,” said transport minister Kailash Gahlot, after flagging off the bus from Delhi Secretariat.

The minister also said tender for 1,000 e-buses could be floated next month as the Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) is scheduled to submit its study report on the project by the end of this month. “Besides, the transport department has already started construction of electric bus depots in the city. The charging infrastructure is expected to be completed by June, 2019. So, the first batch of electric buses is expected to be deployed and fully operational by July,” Gahlot said.

The trial run of the 33-seater bus will be conducted for three months. The bus is equipped with safety features such as four CCTV cameras, panic buttons, and a DC fast charging facility capable of fully charging the bus within 30 minutes. “Its energy consumption amounts to around 1.2 kWh per km, estimated at ₹7 per km. We expect a few other manufacturers to provide their latest electric bus models for trial runs as well in the coming days,” the minister said.