Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari unveiled JBM Auto’s ECO-LIFE e9 and e12 Electric Buses at the Auto Expo 2020

- Showcases 2 variants i.e. 9m and 12m (AC and Non-AC variants of the ZEV)

- ECO-LIFE had been completely localized to meet the FAME-II guidelines

Mumbai, 7 February 2020: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari unveiled JBM Auto’s ECO-LIFE e9 and e12 Electric Buses at the Auto Expo 2020 today. Committed towards its endeavor and aligned with the government’s efforts at propagating green mobility, India’s leading automotive company JBM Auto Ltd. launched ECO-LIFE e9 electric bus at the Auto Expo 2020 today. The bus was launched by Mr. S.K. Arya, Chairman, JBM Group, and Mr. Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group.

ECO-LIFE, a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV), saves around 1000 equivalent tons of carbon dioxide and 350,000 liters of diesel over 10 years of operation. ECO-LIFE, powered by fast-charging lithium batteries, can run 125-150 km in a single charge, depending on the city’s traffic conditions.

JBM’s focus is to be a one-stop solution provider in the Electric Vehicles segment by providing a complete ecosystem solution for E-mobility i.e. Electric Bus, Battery Technology, Charging Infrastructure based on the Operating Pattern within the city. ECO-LIFE comes with lithium batteries that are chargeable through a fast plug-in charging system. Offering a completely flexible solution, the electric bus technology is adaptable to the city bus operation depending on demographic and geographic conditions.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group, said “We have a long journey to ensure zero-emission public transport solutions and electric buses would be a catalyst. Today countries across the globe are embarking on creating sustainable EV policies and if India achieves the FAME-II targets it will be amongst the top 3 countries in the world terms of a number of e-vehicles. This will also generate around 10 million jobs and open many avenues for direct and indirect employment in the e-mobility space and allied sectors”.

“ECO-LIFE e9 expands our electric bus portfolio further with its elder sibling e12 that was launched in the last Auto Expo. The ECO-LIFE series has been designed and localized, keeping the Govt.’s Make in India vision. We have also conceptualized the ‘Well to Wheel’ concept of e-mobility in-house, i.e. solutions ranging right from clean energy generation to green energy consumption”.

ECO-LIFE is manufactured at the company’s hi-tech facilities in Faridabad (Haryana) and Kosi (Uttar Pradesh). These plants have an installed capacity to manufacture 2000 buses annually. ECO-LIFE has a corrosion-resistant ladder frame structure to ensure maximum strength and minimum weight, matching global standards for safety in case of front/side collision and rollover accidents. ECO-LIFE also incorporates other utility features such as Passenger Information System (PIS) connected to GPS, Vehicle Health Monitoring System, Battery Management The system, Fire Detection & Suppression System, etc.

ECO-LIFE comes with an electronic braking system and an innovative electric drive system. For drivers, the ergonomically designed touch screen dashboard provides an intuitive and user-friendly system that allows drivers to concentrate on driving without distractions, which makes it a truly global product. With the recently announced policy reforms like FAME II, Phased Manufacturing Programme, etc. the deployment of e-vehicles in India has gained a faster momentum.