Pune : Over 10-12 PMPML e-buses remain non-functional everyday causing inconvenience to passengers
PMPML plans extra buses to Dehugaon on occasion of ‘Tukaram Beej’ Sohala
By: Pune Pulse
August 19, 2023
Pune: As many as 10 to 12 e-buses of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) lose charge every day in the middle of the journey which makes it stationary on the road causing inconvenience to the passengers.
Speaking to Pune Pulse, Ramesh Chavan, Chief Engineer, PMPML said, “All the e-buses are charged daily for running around 200 km every day. However, with the increase in traffic on roads, the entire power drains out. As a result, the journey has to be ended midway. Hence, if a permanent and effective solution for managing the traffic is planned, e-buses can start functioning correctly again.”
As per information, when the battery runs out, most of these e-buses have to stop midway resulting in inconvenience to the commuters. To address this issue, PMPML has asked private contractors to not run all e-buses and leave 10% of their fleet on standby to ensure that they can be fully charged and that the buses do not run on less charged batteries. Due to the lack of sufficiently charged buses, the driver has to drive buses that have lesser charging which often leads to this issue.
An e-bus can travel 200 to 215 km after a full charge. It takes at least 1 hour to fully charge an E-bus. PMPML has 458 fully e-buses in operation from 5 out of 15 depots.
Shreyas Vange
