Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja Group, signed a letter of intent with Phinergy of Israel to secure long-term arrangements for electric vehicles.
Phinergy has developed cutting-edge technology solutions for the use of aluminium air batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and other applications. With Ashok Leyland, Phinergy will be tailoring its unique technology to meet the demanding high-energy requirements of commercial vehicles in the Indian market.
Ashok Leyland's rival Tata Motors has already showcased concepts of fully electric buses, conducted trials in Shimla and Guwahati, and even supplied these buses to be operated in Mumbai. The company is awaiting orders from municipal corporations across the country.
The latest initiative will help push Ashok Leyland's EV strategy. "Over the next few months, we will develop the first few prototypes and trial pilots on different platforms in order to better tune Phinergy’s offering for various CV applications. Our approach to EV Commercial Vehicles will continue to be such that we move people and goods rather than batteries, with optimal use of battery capacities”, added SA Sundaresan, Head of eMobility Tech, Ashok Leyland.
Last year the Chennai-based company test drove a fully electric 35-seater bus for the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) in Chennai. The bus is priced at Rs 1.5 crore and can run upto 120 kms on a full charge.
“We are excited to be part of India’s EV ecosystem and are happy to be offering our technology for CV applications through this relationship with a strong Indian player like Ashok Leyland who also have a commanding global presence. We believe that our high technology solution will help the Indian customer to keep costs low while addressing range anxiety and reliability. We look forward to rapidly developing our offering and scaling up operations for CV applications in India with Ashok Leyland, with whom we have worked closely over the last year”, said Aviv Tzidon, CEO of Phinergy.
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