ABB Power Grids and Ashok Leyland team up for greener electric buses
Published on : Thursday 16-01-2020
ABB Power Grids and Ashok Leyland team up for greener electric buses
Development by Ashok Leyland of new electric buses using ABB’s world’s fastest flash-charging technology to advance urban mobility while cutting carbon emissions.
Chennai, January 2020: Ashok Leyland and ABB Power Products and Systems India Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the public e-mobility space, to expand the eco-system for efficient and greener electric bus transportation systems in India. The MoU outlines a partnership to develop a pilot electric bus based on ABB’s innovative flash-charge technology, TOSA, which tops up the battery in just seconds while passengers get on and off the bus. This avoids the need to take the vehicle out of service for recharging every few hours or having a replacement bus ready, thus minimising the size of the fleet while increasing passenger carrying capacity.
“We are pushing the boundaries of e-mobility with our flash-charging technology TOSA for buses to contribute to a cleaner, greener, and sustainable future. The aim is to provide a zero local emission mass public transportation bus system with high passenger capacity. We are pleased to be working with Ashok Leyland in advancing responsible urban mobility,” said Mr N Venu, Managing Director, ABB Power Products and Systems India Limited (ABB Power Grids’ business in India).
Speaking on the occasion, Dr N Saravanan, Chief Technology Officer, Ashok Leyland, said, “We are joining hands with ABB to use their world-renowned TOSA technology on our e-buses to take forward our vision of expanding in the EV space. This solution of the flash charge technology (TOSA), which enables charging the battery in seconds, is another example of us delivering on our brand promise of ‘Aapki Jeet. Hamari Jeet.”
TOSA is the world’s fastest flash-charging connection technology that lets cities reduce the environmental pollution of their transit systems without affecting passenger capacity or journey times. At selected passenger stops, its system connects the bus to the charging infrastructure, and in a mere 15 seconds the batteries are charged with a 600-kilowatt power boost. An additional few minutes charge at the final terminal enables a full recharge without interrupting the bus schedule. TOSA fast-charging can save as much as 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide on a line covering 600,000 km per year. It also offers operating cost savings of 30 percent compared to an equivalent diesel-transit system.
ABB is also providing its ABB Ability™ Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software solution for asset optimisation, as well as its ABB Ability Network Manager Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor and control the power network for charging stations and e-buses. On its part, AL will be providing vehicle, energy and EV related technical information using its iAlert Platform. This will further optimize maintenance processes, enable a fast response to fault incidents and better predict maintenance and performance needs. The overall solutions are equipped with remote access and 'cloud' capabilities and is scalable to meet future needs.