MTC will complete the process of modification of electric buses within the next two years. The State has given a cooling period for the prices to stabilize before floating a tender to purchase the vehicles, said a higher official attached to the State Transport Authority.

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Chennai:

“The cost of an electric bus one-and-a-half years ago was Rs 2.3 crore. Within a year, the prices witnessed a steep fall and is now estimated at Rs 1.4 crore. This is owing to the evolving technology over the time period,” he explained.

 

At present, the buses run on three lithium batteries, which takes six hours to be charged and fitted as a package. The transport experts are working on the two models – battery swapping and the other will get recharged within a few minutes after the bus covers a distance of 35 km.

Automobile companies in the State lack the technology to manufacture electric vehicles in such a huge scale. “The government will incentivise companies to manufacture electronic parts indigenously and this would help in creating job opportunities,” said the official.

Under this project, charging units will be set up at all MTC depots. The technical team deployed at the depots will be entrusted with task to replace worn out batteries with fully-charged ones.

 

“When we shift to electric buses, Chennai will be possessing the second largest fleet after China, which accounts for 95 per cent of electric buses. Even a big city like London has only 170 vehicles in its transport network. Whereas, it is a different situation in our country,” he said.