Battery-operated buses, a distant dream

BANGALORE: Shyam Sundar Vattam  The BMTC is keen to run the battery-operated buses, at least for  some short distance, to reduce the fuel bill.But frequent charging of battery is restricting the Bangalore Metropolitan Corporation Limited (BMTC) from introducing the battery operated buses within the city. However, the crux of the matter is if the battery is charged for five to six hours, it is sufficient to run bus only up to 120 km. Again the battery requires charging.To keep those buses running, the BMTC had to have a sufficient number of re-charging points at various locations of the city.BMTC Managing Director M R Srinivas told City Express that at present, every city bus runs at least for 230-250 km daily. On the contrary, the battery operated bus covers half of the distance of conventional buses.With traffic signal lights all around, the city buses need to stop for four to five minutes at each point. Imagine what will happen if the battery discharges midway, he added. He said such buses are suitable for tourist places where the maximum  distance is well within four to five km.Whereas Bangalore is a big city and operating the battery operated buses is risky. Such buses are no doubt ‘environment friendly’ and totally free from any kind of pollution.But the biggest challenge is to charge the battery once in four to five hours. The BMTC may have re-charging points but it needs to ensure  uninterrupted power supply round the clock.In case of any major power breakdown the schedule will go awry, he added.With lot of innovations  going on in the field of science and technology any company may come up with battery that provides improved capacity and lasts for more number of hours.Till then the BMTC has to operate with the conventional buses which runs on petrol, opined Srinivas.