VECV to supply Hybrid Bus

The commercial vehicle manufacturer will integrate KPIT's[M1] indigenously developed electrification technology, Revolo2, on its Skyline Pro platform.

Pithampur – VE Commercial Vehicles limited of Pithampur, a joint venture of Volvo AB and Eicher motors, commercial vehicle manufacturer will supply 40 Hybrid buses to Brihanmumbai electric supply & transport undertaking (BEST). In addition, pilot operation with three vehicles in new town Kolkata and WB HIDCO.

            To bag the order, VE Commercial vehicles partnered with KPIT Technologies¹ of Pune. The commercial vehicle manufacturer will integrate KPIT's indigenously developed electrification technology, Revolo², on its Skyline Pro platform.

The new Eicher Sky line PRO³ hybrid bus is to be manufactured at the company’s plant at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. VECV states it is capable of regenerating up to 36% of the waste energy, which means that it can run on less than 0.8 kilowatts (kW) of electricity per km and offers a range of up to 177 kilometres including full air conditioning loads. The bus batteries are fully recharged overnight.

¹KPIT was co-founded in 1990. The company made its initial public offer (IPO) in 1999. In 2002, Cummins Infotech, the IT arm of Cummins Inc merged with KPIT and the name of the company became KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd. It changed its name to KPIT Technologies Limited in September 2013. This was in line with Cummins’ decision to reduce its shareholding in KPIT to focus on its core business of engine and generator manufacturing. KPIT provides product engineering and IT consulting services, solutions, and products to the following industries - Automotive and Transportation, Energy and Resources, Consumer and Industrial Goods, High Tech, Life Sciences, and Utilities.

²Revolo kit, which was designed for cars and SUVs, has been successfully adapted for the bus segment through this partnership with KPIT. Revolo comprises an architecture that enables a lower voltage and a significant amount of electricity regeneration to deliver optimum mileage from the same battery size. The system uses lithium-ion batteries.

³Eicher Skyline Pro is a mechanically suspended 9t gvw city bus, powered using the E494CRS BS IV (120hp @ 2600 rev/min and max torque 400Nm @ 1200-1800 rev/min) engine matched with ET40S5 5-speed manual gearbox (5F+1R).