Commercial vehicles manufacturers Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Force Motors and Volvo buses are asking the government to make hybrid vehicles more viable in the country.
The noisy buses on the road could soon be replaced by silent, less polluting hybrid buses. The National Hybrid/ Electric Mobility Mission is expected to find a mention in the union budget. It will lay out the plan for rolling out hybrid buses in cities. Bus manufacturers say that they are excited about the opportunity. But to make it commercially viable, they need subsidies.
Currently hybrid buses cost over Rs 1 crore that is nearly 40 to 50 per cent higher than conventional buses. They also have 50 per cent less emissions and save 35 per cent more fuel.
According to Ravi Pisharody, President – Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors, hybrid buses are not a commercial proposition currently.
“The powertrain required along with the battery pack has to be imported at very high duty,” Pisharody said.
This is why, the companies are talking to the government via SIAM that there has to be subsidies from environment standpoint. They show the example of various countries that have government subsidies to help push a cleaner environment using hybrid buses.
But, while hybrid cars and scooters might still seem like a distant reality, hybrid commercial vehicles are soon going to be a reality. Small orders for hybrid buses have already started.
Ashok Leyland says that it has got orders for few buses from Bangalore Metropolitan Transport. It is now developing hybrid buses for India with Optare from UK, where it has 75 per cent stake.
Tata Motors too has got an order from Madrid Spain and it will deliver 10 buses this year assembled in Zaragoza, Spain by its JV Tata Hispano.
Volvo Buses is also talking to city transport authorities in India to supply its hybrid bus 7700 unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo.
Meanwhile, Force Motors is set to launch its hybrid Traveller by the end of 2013 developed in partnership with Ricardo and Locomotive Technologies UK.
Abhay Firodia, Chairman, Force Motors spoke about the company’s approach to the hybrid technology.
“Our approach is to invest in technology, invest in R&D, invest in prototype making, invest in testing, use our capability of using high-quality small engines that will go into this and use the technology from other sources for batteries, for vehicle control unit and so on,” Firodia told NDTV Profit.
Companies are further readying themselves with the right technology to service huge orders for hybrid vehicles in cities expected after the approval of National Electric/Hybrid Mobility Mission.
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