New Delhi : Switch Mobility, the electric mobility arm of commercial vehicle (CV) maker Ashok Leyland, expects an orderbook pipeline of 1,000 electric buses by the end of this financial year, which is seeing a significant jump in demand for electric buses for public transport in India. Is. Company official said.
The company is targeting to launch its electrified range of light commercial vehicles within this financial year as well.
Ashok Leyland has invested approximately $180 million on its electric vehicle assets to date, and is in the process of raising funds to the effect of $200 million for new product development and capacity expansion for Switch Mobility in India and the UK, as well as With its new facility in Spain, Mahesh Babu, Chief Executive Officer, Switch Mobility said in an interview.
About a year ago, Ashok Leyland split its electric mobility business into a separate company, now known as Switch Mobility, which also incorporated UK-based bus manufacturer Optare, which was owned by Leyland. .
Switch Mobility already has an order book of 600 electric buses from State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in Bangalore and Mumbai, and is a corporate for staff bus transport which it offers e-mass (Electric Mobility-as-a-Service) will be presented under Where the capex expenses for setting up the charging infrastructure and depot for buses will be borne by Switch Mobility. The net-zero emission mobility startup has launched its next generation modular electric bus platform, Switch EIV12, in two variants in India for a wide variety of applications such as inter and intra-city transport, and school and luxury applications. .
Switch expects to fulfill these orders by June next year, even as the supply chain plays a bad game for EV makers globally.
Of these, 300 buses are already plying on the roads in the UK. The UK-headquartered company recently announced a $100 million investment to set up a factory and research and development unit in Spain. The EiV 12 buses will be manufactured by Switch Mobility at Ashok Leyland’s factory in Ennore, Chennai.
“We have increased our capacity in India to 2,500 units annually and hence we are well protected for our orderbook. We can even double this capacity in six months, without much investment,” said Mahesh Babu, CEO, Switch Mobility India, in an interview.
“We are close to strategic and private equity funds to invest, but the Hinduja Group remains committed to investing in electric mobility despite we getting funding from outside,” Babu said.
Even as the government’s energy transition agency CESL is looking at a total demand for 50,000 electric buses, the preparation of state transport units in the maintenance and operation of electric buses as well as the basic infrastructure needed to support this transition. There is also apprehension about the structure.