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-   -   Tata Motors launches Hybrid & Electric buses in India (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commercial-vehicles/183676-tata-motors-launches-hybrid-electric-buses-india.html)

Tata Motors has launched a series of eco-friendly buses in India. This range includes Starbus Hybrid (12 m) and Ultra Starbus Electric (9 m & 12 m). The company has also showcased India's first fuel cell bus (12 m), an LNG-powered bus and an articulated bus (18 m).

The Starbus Hybrid uses an electric-diesel powertrain that works in a series hybrid layout. The diesel engine is BSIV compliant. It is built on a modular platform and is complaint with all UBS-II (Urban Bus Specifications), AIS 051 (Automotive Industry Standards) and CMVR (Central Motor Vehicle Rules). It uses lithium ion phosphate batteries to power the electric motors. Features on offer include electronically controlled air suspension, electronically controlled brakes, automatic transmission and regenerative braking system. Tata Motors claims that during an average city trip, the hybrid bus runs on pure electric mode for 30-35% of the total travel duration and thus reduces fuel consumption by 25-30%.


The Electric bus is built on Tata Motors' Ultra platform and is available in two variants - 9 m and 12 m. It has a semi-low floor of 650 mm. The Starbus Electric bus comes with CCTV cameras and telematics. It also features a GPS-enabled Intelligent Transport System (ITS), which indicates its expected time of arrival at all route bus stops.

The automaker has also showcased the Starbus Fuel Cell bus, which was unveiled at the 2012 Auto Expo. It uses a hydrogen fuel cell, which combines compressed hydrogen with oxygen from the air to produce electricity. The bus has been developed in association with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).


Meanwhile, the 18-metre long articulated bus showcased by Tata Motors, is an attempt to increase the capacity of city transport buses from 50-80 passengers to around 120 passengers. Since articulated buses come with more doors that are also larger in size, they offer rapid simultaneous boarding and disembarking capabilities. Wider doors also make them easily accessible to differently-abled passengers and the elderly. Tata Motors suggests that articulated buses are suitable for bus rapid transit systems (BRTS). Since these buses have more passenger capacity and employ less staff per passenger, they are also expected to help in enhancing revenue.

Link to Team-BHP News

Whats the range of the electric bus?

Thank you dZired. Good for Tata, good for India. Collaboration with ISRO sounds exciting. Hope it leads to a real workable solution. Toyota is betting on hydrogen fuel cells as the way of their future. For a country that couldn't design its own cars till as recently as a generation ago to now design electric & fuel cell buses is a big happy leap.

A pure battery powered bus depending on size (bigger size = more range) does between 120 to 200 kms per charge in city driving. Dalian has the largest fleet of battery buses (below) with the longest route being 250 kms on one charge. A bus consumes 1.2 to 1.4 kwh per km in city driving with regenerative braking. Being a bus it can carry a proportionately greater volume & weight of batteries than a car.

The Hybrid and the EV buses are the need of the hour. Our cities are heavily polluted and the situation is becoming worse, day by day. Enough of talked about GHG emissions and we have a little action taken.
The Central Govt. should insist all the states to proactively replace a part of their transport bus fleet with these alternate fuel vehicles. I’m pretty sure that a 10 year old transport bus emits much higher emissions than any of the privately owned Car. Replacing the buses will be more logical than convincing a common man to buy an EV/Hybrid car.

Taking to account, the comment by V.Narayan
Now the range of an EV bus is good enough for any Intracity transport. It seems that the FAME incentive provided under the NEMMP scheme is not being effectively used by the public yet. And more than 3/4th of the allocated amount is un touched. The Govt. can probably use this amount to support the States to procure new EV bus fleets, as we now have a local manufacturer who sells the EV buses.

Electric non AC bus would be more economically viable for city mass transit systems.

Air conditioning significantly bumps up initial cost, weight of the bus, running and maintenance costs. It eats into the range as well.

Are diesel hybrids different from normal hybrids? Many petrol hybrids have Atkinson cycle engines rather than the typical Otto cycle engines.

Big thanks to Medhaj Shetty for sharing!

I will not agree on this. Ac buses actually make more sense. Once they run in decent numbers they will attract car and bike users to buses for convenience and comfort. Today the situation is so that only those who do not have their own vehicles use buses.


Cost wise A MSRTC semi luxury 12M bus with rear air suspension costs them about 34 Lakhs, in comparison a 12M Ac Shivshahi bus costs them about 39.5 Lakhs, which is a 16% increase.
Efficiency wise a Non Ac bus returns between 4.25 to 4.75 km / lit, in similar conditions a Ac bus returns between 3.8 to 4.4 km / Lit on summer days and 4.15 to 4.6 km / Lit during rains and summer nights.
That is effectively about a 10% difference, It is only the exorbitant road tax on Ac buses that drives up the operational cost, but as corporation run city buses are exempted from road tax this factor will not come in the picture.
As long as the ticket rate is kept reasonable max 20% above NAc fare, they will attract users.


Rahul

More efficient battery tech and BMS allows city buses to run at .65 kWh per km or less. 1.2 to 1.5 kWh (and up to 2 kWh in some of the tests run in the country) is about the max efficiency the Chinese are able to generate.

In a city that is plagued with mundane concrete colors, it is refreshing to have these Yellow Tata Starbus Hybrid buses plying our roads :)

On a serious note though, I am one of them who have relinquished their driving desires, now take public transport to office for the past 1.5 years. Back in early 2018, Tata Motors had handed over a fleet of 25 such Starbus vehicles to MMRDA. Currently these buses ply between the business hubs of Bandra and Western Lines, and also from the satellite cities of Navi Mumbai and Thane.

A look inside the bus will assure everyone that it may have become a tad redundant to wedge yourself in daily drives in a car, and consider one of these hybrid buses for regular use. Notwithstanding their obvious environmental impact, they also offer:

• Low boarding point for the aged and disabled
• Onboard Wi-Fi
• clap: And a selection of classic old songs

The bus picture would show very little in terms of reception, but rest assured, now these buses ply with moderate number of passengers. Our habits are like 'turbos', it takes a bit to get properly warmed up, but it eventually will.