Ashok Leyland, the Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer has unveiled the locally designed and engineered first electric bus in the Indian market. It is the country’s first fully electric bus introduced as a Zero emission vehicle and specially created based on the Indian road and load conditions.

1. Ashok Leyland launches locally manufactured first electric bus
Ashok Leyland, the Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer has unveiled the locally designed
and engineered first electric bus in the Indian market. It is the country’s first fully electric bus
introduced as a Zero emission vehicle and specially created based on the Indian road and load
conditions. After the introduction electric cars, this is the time of bigger vehicles that introduce
in the complete electric formats. The introduction of the first electric commercial vehicle was
the proudest moment for India as well as the company.
At the time of a special event, Ambuj Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and
Commerce, Govt. of Tamil Nadu said, the first electric bus is developed for India and also
made in India. Besides, the new electric vehicle is a big leap in the commercial vehicle
category, so we at the company are happy as Ashok Leyland has to deliver this for the first
time in the country.
Vinod K Dasari, MD of Ashok Leyland said, the company has committed to introduce the full
electric vehicles by January 2017 on the stage of FAME Delhi Workshop in April 2015. We
are happy as the company has introduced the first electric vehicle ahead of schedule date.
For developing the electric vehicle, the company has imported the technology inputs from its
UK subsidiary Optare (Part of the Hinduja Group). The company can extend the electric vehicle
range up to 300km based on the battery sizes and configuration. The electric buses can cost Rs.
1.5 crore to Rs. 3.5 Crore based on the battery sizes and number of seats, according to Dasari.
The electric buses have several benefits of zero emission, lower maintenance costs, longer life
cycle and the higher residual value. The cost of the electric buses is high compared to the diesel

2. buses so that Ashok Leyland is studying to get the high subsidy support under the country’s
FAME scheme, according to T Venkataraman, Senior Vice President of Ashok Leyland
(Global Bus).
As per the reports, the electric buses are categorised into two segments such as the hybrid
electric buses and battery or fully electric buses. The Battery buses get the energy from the
only one source in the form of battery.