Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian city of Bangalore. It runs a fleet of 6800 buses serving the Bangalore Metropolitan Region.

There are multiple challenges to India’s transition to e-buses, the primary one being a fundamental difference between e-bus systems and their traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts. The Better e-Bus Challenge 2022 is an initiative by WRI India, supported by the TUMI e-bus Mission, that focuses on innovative technology-based solutions to improve the quality and operations of the rapidly expanding public e-bus systems in Indian cities. The objective of this challenge is to improve planning and scheduling, operations and management and procurement models and financing of e-buses across the country.

As one the winners of program, Microgrid Labs supported BMTC with deployment planning for 9 depots covering over 921 buses. MGL used their EVOPT Software for detailed mathematical modeling, simulation, and optimization. The goal of the modeling effort is to identify the depots/routes that can be served by electric buses, ​identify energy requirements, develop charging strategy and analyze charging scenarios using overnight and mid-day charging, optimize charging schedule to minimize peak load and to manage utility feeder constraints. One of the unique features of the project is modeling charging scenarios using charger sharing through vehicle swapping.

The modeling services provided by Microgrid Labs helped BMTC to select the depots/routes for deploying the e-buses.

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