Swift e-buses | Photo: Social Media
KSRTC-Swift is planning to buy 263 new e-buses. The vehicles will be bought for city and district level services. The decision to buy new ones was taken after analysing the functioning of the 40 e-buses that are in use. Ten buses of the first batch are yet to start functioning.
As many as 113 of the buses in the second batch will be for city services (9 metre length). The buses will be deployed in Thiruvananthapuram town. The aim is to shift city buses completely into electric. The buses will not have air conditioning. This will help the buses get more mileage.
For district services, 150 new buses have been ordered (12 metre length). E-buses are not thought to be suitable for fast or above superclass services in the present scenario. The time taken to charge the buses is the challenge.
This issue can be resolved once battery replacement systems are introduced. The batteries charged and stored in depots can be replaced within 10 minutes.
There are also plans to buy double-decker buses with sunroofs. These buses will replace the double-decker buses used for tourism purposes in Thiruvananthapuram town.