Mahindra Truck And Bus Joins E-mobility Wave With Electric Cosmo

As part of its ‘Future of Mobility’ theme at this year’s Expo, Mahindra presented its first electric bus, the e-COSMO, along with a number of other electric vehicles, leading the way in the country’s electro-mobility charge. At the heart of the eCOSMO from Mahindra Trucks & Buses Ltd. (MTBL) is the efficient ‘state-of-theart’ direct drive motor developed in partnership with TM4, Canada, one of the most renowned players in the global EV eco system. This zero-emission bus has a highly reliable electric power train system, battery packaging with a sophisticated battery management system (BMS), regenerative braking system and many more custom-made solutions.

- Rajesh Rajgor

The electric bus is designed in such a way that it provides utmost comfort to the driver and passengers and also ensures less cost of ownership. Mahindra electric buses offer a variety of seating options in various configurations, ensuring maximum usage.

We spoke to Mr. Vinod Sahay, CEO, MTBL, on the sidelines of the launch and gathered his views on the company’s way forward in the electric space.

What went behind bringing the COSMO bus in an electric format, amongst the first set of e-CVs for mass mobility movement from the Mahindra stable?

It went with our group’s philosophy of going electric, as we had spotted this trend much before others could and thought that it (electric mobility) cannot be limited to passenger cars. Cosmo electric hence becomes the first electric product for us as far as the buses are concerned. By and large, the body is largely the same with some changes to front facia, but the bigger change is in the drive line. It is a direct drive product. The product is already under testing and validation, based on all the tenders are coming. We will be ready for commercial sales in a couple of quarters from now. We are also speaking to private fleet operators, apart from the STUs, for introduction on a pilot project basis. For electric movement to catch up it also has to be backed by the private players in both staffand school transportation.