India – In keeping with its tradition of its British Leyland franchise* days of building double deck buses for India’s major cities, Switch Mobility Automotive Ltd of Bengaluru (a subsidiary of Switch Mobility Ltd of Leeds, UK, which is also a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland Ltd of Chennai), has supplied the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation’s (GSRTC) with two of five electric double deck air-conditioned buses – the Switch EiV 22 (Switch Mobility unveils electric double-decker for the Indian market). A ceremony was held to celebrate start of operation at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) on the outskirts of Delhi. The five Switch EiV 22 buses in Gujarat are set to operate on the route between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad along the SG Highway; they are the first e-double deck buses to be delivered to Gujarat; others are already in service in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Ashok Leyland states the Switch EiV 22 is powered by a liquid cooled, high density, 231 kWh NMC battery pack and uses a 650 V system - the same platform as Switch EiV 12, launched in June 2022, which is also common with Switch e1. (The Switch e1 is the European platform model adapted for Indian conditions). The battery pack, when fully charged, offers a range up to 250 kms in intra-city applications. The chassis is suspended with a VDL Weweller air suspension at the front and rear. The Switch electric double decker has 65 seats, almost twice the number of seated passengers as a comparable single deck bus, and with the use of a lightweight aluminium body, it has an increase in kerb weight of just 18%.