Switch Mobility Ltd, the electric vehicle arm of Ashok Leyland, has bagged an order from JSW Steel to supply 71 electric buses for the latter’s employee transportation, for an undisclosed sum.
Switch Mobility will own and oversee entire operations including setting up of charging infrastructure and requisite maintenance efficacy, over a 12-year contract period. To ensure effective operations and services of these electric buses, Switch is hiring 200 people, according to a statement.
“This is the first significant and largest electric bus order in the country for employee transportation, with 71 buses being delivered to JSW Steel, for their Vijayanagar plant. The first set of electric buses has been flagged-off by Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Group of companies, and Mahesh Babu, Global CEO, Switch Mobility Ltd.
Milestone
The private bus market in India is one of the key transportation markets in the country constituting 70 per cent market share, of which the private electric bus market is expected to be valued at ₹6,000 crore in the next five years, said Mahesh Babu, Global CEO, Switch Mobility Ltd.
“This partnership with JSW is an important milestone for Switch Mobility, as we deliver our first and largest private bus order in the country. We are in talks with more corporates across the country who are showing keen interest to join hands in this sustainable journey,” he added.
The air-conditioned buses include Switch’s EiV 12 electric bus, which is embedded with proprietary, connected technology solutions, ‘Switch iON’, enabling remote, real-time diagnostics and monitoring services and world-class digital battery management tools. The EV architecture of the EiV platform is common with the European Switch e1 bus.
“The buses are also equipped with a new generation of highly efficient, modular batteries with advanced lithium-ion NMC chemistry, specially formulated for the Indian market and climatic conditions, the statement said.