How Chennai Is Rallying Toward An Electric Transportation Movement

The electric revolution is here to stay. Soon, ambitions reveal, much of the country shall be running and hopefully, fully functioning on electric means of transportation. To that regard, it is worthwhile to reinstate that India has an ambitious aim toward adopting the electric means of transportation.

Wherever one scrolls in national headlines, it appears that different states are voyaging increasingly toward EV’s. The states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Delhi are actively working toward introducing electric vehicle policies.

By 2030, approximately 40 percent of all means of transportation on the Indian roads would be all-electric. Amid the encircling gloom owing to the slump in the automotive industry, something that’s making headlines each day, the next obvious step is to adopt electric urban transportation means. It’s a reality of the times we are in.

And there’s nothing spectacularly surprising about aiming high. Gravitating toward electric transportation is the order of the day; no longer some breaking news headline reported from a salubrious media station.

To that regard, it’s important to note the healthy change in the scheme of things governing urban transportation in the southern city of Chennai, down south in India.

So is Chennai taking its first baby steps toward incorporating an electric means for public transport? Well, you bet! Here’s something that may generate a lot of interest particularly for those who wish the world to function according to the ethos of technology, an irrepressible and perhaps, the much-needed reality of our times.

Chennai recently got its first all-electric public transport bus. The Centre, in addition, has a rather ambitious plan for what lies ahead. It has given consent to operate as many as 525 purely electric public transport buses in various Tamil Nadu cities of Vellore, Thanjavur, Salem, Madurai, Tiruppur, Coimbatore.

Above anything else, this exciting development should be hailed. After all, it is a key step taken consciously to battle the rising menace of air pollution.

To that end, it’s important to know why the just-concluded Monday was no ordinary day for the fate of public transport in Tamil Nadu. The government proudly unveiled the pure electric air-conditioned public transport bus built by the Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland.

Additionally, the roll-out of the bus comes against the backdrop of the state government signed a memorandum of understanding with the London-based ‘C-40 Cities Climate Leadership Group” in March 2018.

The main constituent or generator of pollution comes from the engine so the fact that these electric buses have no gearbox, in addition to having no engine ensures the fact that they cause zero pollution.

Financial Express, reporting elaborately on the key story from Chennai shared the following updates:

An Ashok Leyland official said, “the bus has no gearbox, no engine and (hence) no pollution.” The buses would be run for three to four months on a trial basis. The Tamil Nadu government has been pitching for vehicles that are run on alternative sources of energy.

Fitted with a fire detection system and a suppression system- a must for all means of public transport- the buses are currently on a trial run for a period up to three or four months. Interestingly, they can travel up to a range of 120 kilometers in a single charge.