Hinduja flagship Ashok Leyland's electric vehicles (EV) arm Optare has taken up a project to increase the range of its MetroCity and Solo buses to 200 miles without intrusion into passenger space.
"This ongoing project will double their range. It is supported by our parent company Ashok Leyland, which has phenomenal technical ability, but at the moment the range extension project is managed by Optare," Alastair Munro, Engineering Director - Optare today said in a statement.
Phase two of the plan will be joint development between the two companies, he added.
"Much of the project is how we match high-performance motors and transmissions. We are also looking at battery technology, and how they are packaged," Munro said.
He added that a key part of extending the range of EVs is how on-bus heating is managed, and the mileage doubled without any weight gain to the vehicle.
"That can make a huge difference to energy consumption, and part of the project is to engineer things correctly to use energy in the best way possible," Munro added.
Work to convert a demonstrator and the first of six in-service Solo EVs to double their range has already begun at the Sherburn-in-Elmet plant, with the last to be completed before June.
