Commercial vehicles maker Ashok Leyland has said that it is working on medium range of electric vehicles (EVs) in commercial vehicle (CV) segment, which would be launched by 2025.

The company has already some electric buses running in some States and an electric version of Dost (light commercial vehicle) is likely to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year. Apart from electric, the company is also working on other alternate fuel options for its CVs, a top official said.

“While we have a sister concern called ‘Switch’ which deals with all the buses and smaller EVs, we are working on ICV (intermediate commercial vehicles) EVs. We are now preparing ourselves for all types of alternate fuel... we should have all the technologies available off the shelf and as and when infrastructure and ecosystem are created, we are able to offer,” Sanjeev Kumar, Head of Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCV) Business, Ashok Leyland told BusinessLine.

The company last week, has completed the sale of its EV business to Switch Mobility Automotive, its EV arm, for a consideration of ₹240 crore.

The transfer of EV business resulted in a profit of ₹96 crore for the company and the transfer of EMaaS (Electric Mobility-as-a-Service) business is pending regulatory and other approvals.

Kumar also clarified that while compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) are happening now, it may take some more time for adoption of electric in high-tonnage trucks.

“My own sense is that electric will be there in buses and smaller vehicles and ICV range. But, shift to higher tonnage vehicles will take some time. After CNG, we may see LNG progressing now because it is progressing very fast in in Europe and China,” he said.

The company has recently launched the ecomet Star ICV CNG range and customers can choose from two options of 16.1 tonne and 14.250 tonne with three CNG cylinder options - 360/480/570 litres – giving around 700 km range.

According to Kumar, the CNG share of CVs have increased a lot over the last two years, especially with government’s focus on creating more CNG infrastructure across the country. The maximum number of CNG was available in Maharashtra, Gujarat and North India, but now it is spreading across the country. He said CNG trucks right now form around 10 per cent of the market and the remaining 90 per cent in diesel and around 40 per cent in ICV range.

Market scenario

Asked about the overall market scenario, especially with sales over the last two years, which have been in red due to the pandemic and semiconductor shortage, Kumar said that it may continue for some more time, but demand is coming back.

The company sold 7,561 units of M&HCV in January, a jump of 11 per cent as compared with 6,839 units in January 2021.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW