Mumbai’s BEST become ‘better’ with Tata Motors

Tata Motors has recently delivered 26 electric buses out of a total of 340, which will now join the fleet of Mumbai’s (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport) BEST public transport service. This transfer marks the beginning of the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) e-bus service to BEST, which revolves around overcoming the challenges involved in choosing the right technology for BMTC Operations, lack of technical know-how and the size of battery vs. range anxiety. The remaining buses would be delivered as per schedule, in a phased manner. This has become the largest order under the FAME II initiative from a Metro City for GCC.

The Tata Ultra Urban 9/9 is a 25-seater air-conditioned e-bus, and boasts of advanced-features namely – Telematics, Regenerative Braking System and an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) to make a safer, informed and coordinated use of road transport network. With ample space provided for driver and passenger comfort, an automated ramp for the differently-abled, charging ports and Wi-Fi hotspots, the Tata powered Ultra Urban 9/9 is the complete mass-mobility solution ready to take on the ill-perils of climate change. 

The project spans across Backbay, Worli, Malvani and Shivaji Nagar bus depots, and Tata Motors is responsible for end-to-end operations, that range from creation, deployment and maintenance of both the fleet and the charging infrastructure.

Presently, the Indian e-bus market is dominated by six big OEMs’, wherein Tata Motors and Olectra-BYD, a joint venture between China’s BYD and India’s Olectra Greentech, are the oldest players. Owing to various Govt. policies and initiatives aimed at incentivizing the electric infrastructure of the country, well-known international players have forayed into the Indian electric bus market – JBM Solaris (JV between Poland’s Solaris and India’s JBM Auto), VECV (JV involving Volvo Group and Eicher Motors) and Foton PMI (a Joint Venture between China’s Beiqi Foton Motor and India’s PMI Electric Mobility Solutions).