Volvo Buses seeks right ecosystem for BS VI

VRV Sriprasad completely supports India’s ambitious target of meeting Bharat Stage VI emissions by 2020 and the proposed electrification of the automotive ecosystem a decade later.

As Managing Director of Volvo Buses – South Asia, he represents a group that has constantly been ahead of the curve when it comes to prioritising clean air. Yet, he believes that a lot more work needs to be done first in order to make India’s vision statement a reality.

“We at Volvo Buses are very enthused by this aggressive intent, both locally and globally, see it as a long-term vision,” says Sriprasad. “Yet, what concerns us is that while this is good, we cannot have an ecosystem where there is no level playing field.”

As much as the transition to BS VI or electrification is more than welcome, he cautions that one cannot have an environment, which is continuing to “foster and support” Euro 0 and 1 vehicles. Nowhere in the world does such a paradox exist.

“That is the fear for us in that if this is not addressed, we will not land up with the intended objective,” says Sriprasad. “We need to have a good vehicle retirement policy and ensure that no operator loses his business.”

The key is to balance out gradually where these operators are encouraged to give up old vehicles while moving to a fleet, which is new in terms of technology and not just in (number of) years. Given the value-for-money fixation in India, a bus operator handling an Euro 2/3 fleet would naturally be more competitive than someone with an Euro 6 bus range. “We cannot afford to have any vehicle, which is not a BS IV on the road (by 2020) to get going and this drive should begin in right earnest. If this is not done, there will be so much imbalance in the system and environment that it could even affect targets that we have set for ourselves,” cautions Sriprasad.

Volvo Buses is also keen on being part of India’s electric vision statement but would rather take one thing at a time. “Just because there is an opportunity does not mean that we are going to jump blindly into it,” adds the MD. “What we need to do now is that whatever is commercialised in the rest of the world has to be adapted to an Indian environment.”

This means that other parameters such as India’s geography, climate, driver/passenger psyche and so on need to be factored in before validating the product. This will ensure that the global success of the Volvo brand in electro-mobility is replicated here.

“We believe in an electric bus for sure but will work on our own development programme,” says Sriprasad. “How many years that will take is difficult for me to say at this point in time,” says Sriprasad. Representatives of the Roads and Highways Ministry have already been shown Volvo’s expertise in electro-mobility during visits to Sweden. The response has been very positive, a clear indication that the Centre is keen on taking technology levels higher back home in India.

Volvo’s work on alternative fuels, which started over a decade ago, has clearly shown that electro-mobility is a better option for the environment even while diesel remains the more economical fuel. Yet, the Swedish group has noted that what matters more is the entire value cycle and its impact on the environment.

Hence, even while India is keen on going electric, generating so much electricity from thermal sources would mean burning a lot of coal, which in turn is polluting.

“We need to come down on thermal and do a lot of balancing,” says Sriprasad. “There is no point just cleaning up the living room and dumping everything else in the bedroom.”

While on the subject of policy, The Volvo Buses chief has been ecstatic about the response to Prawaas 2017, an exhibition, which was arranged by the Bus Operators’ Confederation of India in Navi Mumbai recently. Different segments of operators converged on this occasion be it a tourist, school bus, stage carrier, intercity operator and so on.

“I see a big promise in what has started here in terms of a mature way to get things done,” he says. This would help iron out a host of issues through joint representations instead of handling things individually as was the case till recently. And some of these are quite critical as in the case of the directive from the Ministry of Road Transport to State RTOs over a year ago, limiting commercial vehicle speed to 80 kmph on the highways.

“While we don’t question the intent of this directive, a lot more thought could have gone into this,” he adds. “All of us share the Centre’s concern on highway accidents and the need for safety. We would have preferred an analysis instead on what really is leading to accidents rather than getting fixated on top speed being the villain of the piece for CVs,” explains Sriprasad.

On the contrary, what is more important is to look at the stopping distance and just not the top speed in order to prevent an accident. Stopping distance is a function of how well the vehicle is balanced in terms of braking systems, load distribution and so on.

“Just going for top speed will not help, especially when operators have good vehicles and ensure that customers benefit in terms of travel time,” says Sriprasad. “If you limit all speeds to 80 kmph, then you go back to the old days of everyone sitting on roads and waiting for a bus,” says Sriprasad.

Hopefully, issues like these will be sorted out thanks to a beginning made at Prawaas 2017. As he says, there is a single voice in place today, which is a far cry from the “fragmented multiple voices we have been used to”.

The key is to keep this effort going in the years to come.

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