To start trial run between Bengaluru and Mysuru; 12-metre AC bus can travel up to 300 km on a single charge

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) received a prototype of an electric bus yesterday in Bengaluru and was received by Minister for Transport and Tribal Welfare B. Sriramulu and officials of KSRTC.

The service will be operated on the Bengaluru-Mysuru route for a trial run and the date will be finalised. The bus has been manufactured by Hyderabad-based Olectra Greentech Limited and 50 more buses will arrive in Bengaluru for inter-city operations by February.

“KSRTC has chosen its Electric Bus name as ‘EV- Power Plus’ with a tagline ‘e-Xperience e-levated. All the remaining electric buses would be put into operation in the routes — Bengaluru to Mysuru, Madikeri, Virajpet, Davanagere, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru,” a statement from the KSRTC said.

“While electric charging centres for the buses have already been set up in Bengaluru and Mysuru, the setting up of charging centres are under progress in Madikeri, Virajpet, Davanagere, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru. Each bus will have a total of 43 seats push-back for passengers,” the statement added.

The inter-city service will be launched under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme of the Union Government. The buses will run on gross cost contract basis in which the private operator will operate the buses for 10 years where the KSRTC will pay Rs. 55 per kilometre as operational cost to the private operator that includes electricity charges.

The 12-metre AC bus can travel up to 300 km on a single charge along with on-board and off-board charging facilities. The Lithium-ion Phosphate battery can be charged in two to three hours. Passengers can also use the WiFi in the bus which has a USB charger port.

“After the success of the KSRTC intercity (Prototype) Electric Bus, all the remaining electric buses would be put into operation in the various routes,” the KSRTC statement added.