At the Auto Expo 2023, held earlier this month, while carmakers displayed tech innovation and concept cars on their pavilions, the biggest technological advances were showcased by commercial vehicle (CV) players such as VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland.
Akash Passey, president, Bus Division, VECV, told FE that in the area of CVs, no technology can be left behind. “Be it battery electric or CNG/LNG, or hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen ICE, all are the right ‘vehicles’ for meeting the end-goal of efficient logistics and decarbonised automotive industry,” he said.
At the Auto Expo, VECV had unveiled India’s longest electric intercity bus (13.5 metres long). “Electric buses primarily are used for intracity operations (because of their limited range), but ours is an intercity bus,” he said.
It’s got a claimed driving range of 300-350 km on a single depot charge of about six hours. But thanks to 30-40 minutes ‘opportunity charge’ during the journey, if needed, additional 150-odd km range can be added.
“In addition to intracity bus operations, battery electric buses can now also be used on short intercity routes, thanks to more efficient batteries and tech advances,” Passey said.
However, for longer countrywide routes, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the right fuel, as of now. “While CNG buses and trucks are getting more efficient, and the number of CNG fuel stations is increasing, CNG is most suitable for city and medium-distance applications with a range of up to 500 km,” he said. “For long-haul and heavy-duty applications, LNG is better suited as compared to CNG due to the better energy density of LNG as a fuel.”
Passey added that two promising technologies are hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen ICE.
In hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are combined to produce water and electricity. The electricity is then used to drive the vehicle’s motor, and water is the only waste produced. Because electricity is developed by the vehicle itself, these don’t need external charging support.
In hydrogen ICE, hydrogen is burnt inside either the compression ignition engine or the spark ignition engine—two variants of ICE—in the same way as diesel and petrol/CNG, respectively, are burnt.
Both hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen ICE are zero-carbon vehicles, provided the fuel used is green hydrogen (produced by renewable sources of energy).
Passey said that these next-gen technologies are aligned with the government of India’s Green Hydrogen Mission and offer a promising path to zero tailpipe emissions.