As India prepares to switch to zero emission vehicles across categories, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) is understood to be looking to get electric buses and hydrogen trucks to the Indian market, the development work of which is in progress presently.

DICV, which makes and sells trucks and buses in India under the BharatBenz brand, is one of the few companies who are yet to enter the electric commercial vehicle segment even as its rivals including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, VE Commercial Vehicles have launched products powered by battery electric vehicle (BEV) technology.

“Buses could be the first to go electric (for us),” Satyakam Arya, managing director, DICV, said in a recent interaction with FE while adding, “We are studying the EV space and how the Indian market is getting prepared for this technology. We are keeping a close eye on it. The situation is very dynamic.”

As reported earlier, DICV is also exploring the segment of small commercial vehicles that carry weights of up to 5 tonnes. These electric mini trucks are in much demand due to their ability to meet the last mile mobility needs, especially in congested cities.

While the intra-city segment with a demand for a range of up to 500kms can be addressed by EVs, Arya said that to address the inter-city transport demand, DICV headquarters in Germany is working on hydrogen-powered trucks.

“Hydrogen is the most promising for the future for a simple reason that when you talk about mobility technology, you have to go to the molecule level. One kilogram of hydrogen can generate 33kwh of energy; there is no other element which can offer this; carbon is 8kw and BEV is 0.5-0.6kwh,” Arya added.

While the competition offers CNG as an option, DICV’s entire portfolio is powered only by diesel. The company had earlier said that it was watching the CNG demand growth in India but was yet to firm up plans for it.

“We will invest in both electric and hydrogen fuel technologies. The development work on the powertrain is already going on globally and that includes India. EV will come out first because the infra is in place. Hydrogen is many years away because we have to install hydrogen as fuel first,” Arya added.

Reliance Industries (RIL) and Ashok Leyland in February unveiled India’s first hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) truck having a loading capacity of 19-35 tonne.

In July BharatBenz and RIL showcased India’s first intercity luxury concept coach powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology. Fuel cell system is designed and developed by Reliance Industries. The intercity bus can travel approximately 400 km on a single hydrogen fill. The Bus will undergo extensive trials, validation & safety trials over next 12 months.

“We believe India’s commercial vehicle (CV) industry should grow in the high single digit for the next 5-7 years. If that happens, we are looking at this medium and heavy CV market becoming close to 500,000 per year by 2030. We will address the white spots through 2-3 launches this year,” Arya added.