Hitachi ABB Power Grids, which recently unveiled its Grid-eMotion Fleet EV charging system for large scale public transports and commercial fleets, plan to bring to technology to India as part of its partnership with Ashok Leyland. Earlier this year, the home-grown commercial vehicle manufacturer had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ABB to develop a pilot electric bus based on the latter's flash-charge technology, Grid-eMotion Flash solution, commonly known as TOSA. And the new EV charging system for fleet vehicles comes under the same umbrella brand - Grid-eMotion.
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Ashok Leyland is developing a pilot electric bus based on Hitachi ABB Power Grids' flash-charge technology, Grid-eMotion Flash (Image for representation only)
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Commenting on the company's plans to bring Grid eMotion Fleet to India, Andre Burdet, Product Management and Marketing Manager, Hitachi ABB Power Grids said, "We have already signed an MoU with Ashok Leyland in India for a pilot project where we are supplying our Grid-eMotion Flash solution for their buses, and we also plan to implement our Grid-eMotion Fleet solution as part of the agreement." He further added, "As part of this introduction, we are talking with various parties in India about the opportunity to implement the solution."
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The system is specifically designed for large scale public transport and commercial fleets like electric buses
The Grid-eMotion Fleet is a grid-to-plug EV charging system that has been designed specifically for large scale public transport and commercial fleets like electric buses. The system uses DC technology and can connect to any type of power network, which means fleet owners will not have to deal with the complexities of integrating AC-DC chargers into a system. Currently, the company has a 1-Megawatt (1000 kW) system installed in Milan, Italy, and several other projects are currently under development in several other countries.
Compared to a conventional charging system that is connected to an AC grid, Grid-eMotion offers 60 per cent space reduction and 40 per cent less cabling. A 1.5 MW (1500 kW) Grid-eMotion EV charging system can be stored in a 20-feet container. This makes it far more suitable for urban areas which have space constraints for a large depot for electric buses with a charging station.
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A 1.5 MW Grid-eMotion EV charging system can be stored in a 20-feet container, making it suitable for urban areas with space restrictions
Commenting on the electric vehicle ecosystem in India, Burdet said, "Compared to other countries, India is a few years behind in terms of adoption, infrastructure and regulations. However, the Government (of India) has taken various measures to boost the domestic manufacturing segment. Schemes such as FAME and 100 per cent FDI to ebus manufacturers provide great incentives to lower the costs of electric buses to make it more affordable and facilitate their adoption in the country." Under FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles) scheme, the Government of India plans to have 5000 electric buses in India by 2022.
Jaguar Land Rover India & Tata Power, MG Motor India, Essel Group and Vakrangee, are few OEMs that have also announced their plan to set up EV infrastructure in India.
