JBM Auto launched its Eco-Life e9 electric bus at the Auto Expo 2020 today in the presence of S K Arya, chairman, JBM Group and Nishant Arya, executive director, JBM Group.

The company claims the Eco-Life, a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV), saves around 1000 equivalent tons of carbon dioxide and 350,000 litres of diesel over 10 years of operation. Powered by fast-charging lithium batteries, it can run 125-150km on a single charge, depending on the city’s traffic conditions.

According to Nishant Arya, “We have a long journey to ensure zero emission public transport solutions and electric buses would be a catalyst. Today, countries across the globe are embarking on creating sustainable EV policies. If India achieves the FAME-II targets, it will be amongst the top three countries in the world terms of number of e-vehicles. This will also generate around 10 million jobs and open many avenues for direct and indirect employment in the e-mobility space and allied sectors”.

“Eco-Life e9 expands our electric bus portfolio further with its elder sibling – the e12 – that was launched in the last Auto Expo. The Eco-Life series has been designed and localised keeping the government’s Make in India vision. We have also conceptualised the ‘well-to-wheel’ concept of e-mobility in-house –solutions ranging right from clean energy generation to green energy consumption”.

Annual plant capacity: 2,000 electric buses
The Eco-Life electric bus is manufactured at the company’s facilities in Faridabad (Haryana) and Kosi (Uttar Pradesh). These plants have an installed capacity to manufacture 2,000 buses annually. The Eco-Life has a corrosion resistant ladder frame structure to ensure maximum strength and minimum weight, matching global standards for safety in case of front/side collision and rollover accidents. Eco-Life also incorporates other utility features such as Passenger Information System (PIS) connected to GPS, Vehicle Health Monitoring System, Battery Management System, Fire Detection and Suppression System.

The Eco-Life comes with an electronic braking system and innovative electric drive system. For drivers, the ergonomically designed touch-screen dashboard provides an intuitive and user-friendly system that allows drivers to concentrate on driving without distractions.

JBM says its focus is to be a one-stop solution provider in the EV segment by providing a complete ecosystem solution for e-mobility – electric bus, battery technology, and charging infrastructure based on the operating pattern within the city. Eco-Life comes with lithium batteries that are chargeable through a fast plug-in charging system. Offering a completely flexible solution, the electric bus technology is adaptable to the city bus operation depending on demographic and geographic conditions.