India: Rajasthan inducts 47 electric buses for public transport

Of the 47 electric buses, Rajasthan has allocated 29 units to the state capital, Jaipur, and 18 units to Bhilwara. Chartered Speed purchased these buses from EKA Mobility, a homegrown electric commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Pune, Maharashtra, and is operating them under a gross cost contract basis.

Most of the units of the new fleet appear to be the EKA 9M model, which measures 9,200 mm in length, 2,500 mm in width, and 3,200 mm in height and has a 4,800 mm wheelbase. The nine- metre electric bus accommodates 33 or 35 passengers, depending on the configuration selected, in a 2×2 seating layout. EKA Mobility equips it with a wheelchair lift door mechanism and air conditioning, and offers an option for electronically controlled air suspension.

The EKA 9M has a single 213 kW motor powered by a 200 kWh LFP battery pack, which supports charging at up to 240 kW. It offers a maximum gradeability of 17 per cent, has a top speed of 80 kph, and can travel up to 180 kilometres on a single charge.

At the flag-off ceremony of the 29 e-buses in Jaipur, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma said that the state will receive a total of 1,150 electric buses under the PM E-bus Sewa scheme. The central government has sanctioned 675 units for eight cities: Ajmer, Alwar, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, and Udaipur. As for the remaining 475 units, Sharma said that the approval has been received, but did not state when they would enter commercial operation.

The state government is aiming for a full rollout of the 675 units by Diwali, Sharma added, and that will be in the first week of November. These likely refer to the same 675-unit contract EKA Mobility and Chartered Speed secured in April last year, comprising 565 nine-metre e-buses and 110 twelve-metre e-buses. In total, the duo plan to deploy 876 e-buses in Rajasthan as part of the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme.

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