Pune gets fleet of 150 Olectra electric buses

Pune has received a 150-strong electric bus fleet, which have been manufactured by Olectra. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday flagged off the electric buses, which will be used for public transportation in Pune, reports PTI. PM Modi also inaugurated an electric bus charging station in Baner. Besides that, the PM appealed to the country to encourage electric mobility in order to avoid diesel price hikes and reduce carbon emissions.

Olectra in an official statement has said that this new fleet of 150 electric buses will help the city to witness significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Besides being battery electric powered, these buses are claimed to have a host of safety features on board. The company also said that its electric buses have already been successfully operated over two crore kilometres in Pune.

These electric buses are claimed to have a seating capacity of 33 passengers, while they come with electronically controlled air suspension. The buses are 12-metre long. They come equipped with CCTV cameras to ensure the safety of the passengers. There is an emergency button and USB sockets for each seat in these electric buses. The lithium-ion battery onboard these electric buses enable the EVs to run around 200 km range on a single charge, based on traffic and passenger load conditions, claimed Olectra.

The manufacturer also claimed that these electric buses come with advanced technologies such as regenerative braking, which allow the vehicle to recover part of its kinetic energy lost in braking. They come equipped with high power AC and DC charging system allowing the battery onboard to be recharged in three to four hours.