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E-MOBILITY
E-bus to drive electrification of India’s public transport Research has found that versus other transportation, buses emit just 10-25 percent of CO2. An e-bus will further reduce emission.
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nough has been said about environment and global warming - cities akin to gas chambers, a 2°C rise in global temperatures, rising sea levels, carbon reduction commitments and the rest. In the end it was the coronavirus that really forced the world to sit up and listen to Earth, it showed the world what needed to be done, how, and that it was possible.
Advantage e-bus
So, the world has come to see that the e-bus is crucial to cutting tail-pipe emissions and that electric transit is no more an option but an obligation. Government of India is moving full throttle to fulfill this obligation through its FAME India Scheme and to bring e-buses onto Indian roads. Although implementation is on track, hurdles typical to a nascent venture define the industry at present – high cost of an e-bus, inadequate charging infrastructure, high battery cost, instability of batteries under high Indian temperatures, ongoing research to improve this; research in new chemistries for cathode and anode. All this, and more, is work-in-progress.
the restructured cities would need to prioritize an adequate transit system. That the government is serious about this was stated by Union Heavy Industries Minister, Prakash Javadekar in September 2020 when he said, "Already 450 buses are plying in various cities. Now 670 e-buses are sanctioned. Maharashtra has got 240, Gujarat has got 250, Goa has got 100 and Chandigarh has got 80. Kerala and other States have also got e-charging stations because all those corporations who are completing the formalities, we are sanctioning e-buses for them."
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric VehiclesPhase I & II
The FAME India Scheme Phase I launched till March 31, 2019 by the Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises and operated by Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), increased the share of hybrid and EV passenger vehicles from zero in FY 2012-13 to 1.3 percent in the FY 201516. The EV industry sold 156,000 EVs during 2019-20. According to the
Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) the sale of EVs in India increased by 20 percent in 2019-20, mainly driven by rising sales of two-wheelers. As per a PIB posting, in this first phase about 2,80,987 hybrid and EVs were supported by `359 crore of demand incentive. DHI sanctioned 425 electric and hybrid buses to various cities at a cost of about `280 crore and 520 charging stations for around `43 crore in certain cities under FAME I. DHI notified FAME II from 1st April 2019 for three years with a budget of `10,000 crore giving priority to public and commercial vehicle segments as well as demand incentives. The adoption of over 7,000 electric buses by State transport undertakings (STUs) by 2022 is supported by a sum of `3,545 crore as part of FAME-II’s `10,000-crore budget. DHI sanctioned 5600 e-buses to various STU’s under the scheme. The procurement process of 2500 buses, is already completed and approved for subsidy; further contracting is still underway. DHI invited expression of interest under FAME II for electric city bus services on an operating expense
India is expected to have more than 68 cities, each with over a million population by 2030, all requiring an efficient and electric public mobility system. An effective ratio for a transport system is between 100-200 buses per 100,000 people. India lags with just 50. For its population density, India would need 12,000 to 15,000 e-buses every year till 2030. A bus system is a very versatile intra-city transport system and can be easily scaled with the growth of the city. A massive return migration of rural workers in search of livelihood will flood Indian cities post pandemic. Together, with new working norms,
Figure 1: E-bus tendering under FAME Scheme.
| November-December 2020
Source: CES
Demand/Requirement vs success
