The U.S., Europe, and China aren’t the only regions eager to spur widespread all-electric vehicle adoption. So, too, is India. That is, with the help of the Chinese.
This week Chinese bus maker Olectra-BYD revealed that it has launched 40 all-electric K9 model buses in the Indian city of Hyderbad. The buses boast a 155-mile range per charge. And they can accommodate 39 passengers plus a driver. In the Hyderbad fleet, the Olectra-BYD K9s will be used to ferry passengers from various neighborhoods to the airport.
Presently, Olectra-BYD has a total of 108 all-electric buses in India. By the end of the year, India would like to have 1,000 eco-friendly all-electric buses in service throughout the country.
Although India is pushing to make its transportation fleet more eco-friendly, at least one analyst firm, LMC Automotive, doesn’t foresee the country being terribly successful over the next 11 years.
By 2030, LMC Automotive estimates India will convert just three percent of its total fleet to electric, leaving the remaining 97% to rely on fossil fuels for propulsion.
By comparison, LMC forecasts the U.S. will see three to four percent EV marketshare growth over the coming decade, resulting in just shy of 40% of U.S. vehicles being electrified. China is expected to make even bigger strides, converting 52 percent of its vehicles to electric by 2030.
This means that, although admirable, the relatively small 1,000-unit EV bus fleet will represent a virtual drop in the bucket in switching India’s transportation system off of fossil fuels and over to electrified powertrains.