The ‘I’ Factor

Story: Nikhil Raghavan / Original manuscript of published version in Commercial Vehicle magazine

This is the era of the Global Indian. Numerous Multi National Corporations across the world are being headed by Indians. Non Resident and Resident Indian businessmen are buying up companies around the world and creating mega entities out of them. In the automotive sector, while Indian companies (read: Tatas) are gunning for brands like Jaguar and land Rover, global luxury brands like Lexus, Hummer and Cadillac are targeting the ever-increasingly rich Indian.

Have you noticed how India is suddenly a focal point in so many different spheres – retail, automotive, mobile telephony, fashion labels, watches, et al? It is the ‘I’ factor – ‘I’ as in Indian. Remember, in automobile circles, the latest model to hit the Indian roads is the i10 from Hyundai. Now, along comes another ‘I’ factor – from Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL), nonetheless!

To be unveiled at this year’s Auto Expo (even as you read this) is the ‘iBus’ – a concept people transport vehicle touted as Tomorrow’s City Shuttle. It all began a year ago when the Young Executives Forum (YEF), a two-year-old activity of ALL, was given a brief by the top management – Be as radical as you want, as wild as you can let your imagination run, as free as the spirit in you – but, come up with a unique concept in vehicular transport, that works.

A group of 25 under-thirty fives drawn from across all departments of ALL put their heads together and came up with Project Concept Bus. Under a structured hierarchy of 10 mentors (senior executives), 15 experts and top management personnel, the 25 go-getters met regularly for a couple of months and bounced around ideas – some wacky, some outrageous, some unthinkable, some radical. Eventually, they formed four core groups to put some direction to their thinking processes and ideas – Opportunity Assessment (for market research and feedback), Design & Integration (for concepts), Testing & Validation (to try out the concepts) and Production Engineering (liaising with suppliers).

CV met with three representatives of the YEF, as it would have been difficult to get all the 25 under one roof at one time, to learn more about the iBus, the Concept Bus which the Forum came up with.

The ‘I’dea:

What does the ‘i’ denote? Says Bharath Rajagopalan, Deputy Manager, Mission Summit, ALL and member of the Opportunity Assessment and Design & Integration core team, “The letter stands for Indian, Intelligent and Innovation, the three important criteria we set for developing the iBus.” Venkat Subramanian, Deputy Manager, Marketing, ALL and member of the Opportunity Assessment core team explains further, “When we thought Indian, the factors included that the bus should be ideally suited to all Indian road and user conditions. Therefore the features should be user friendly and robust without compromising on comfort. The first thing we decided was that it should be a semi low floor so that the chassis doesn’t become too costly.” Pitched in Vivek Upadhyay, Senior Engineer, Advanced Engineering, ALL and Design & Integration core team member, “The design, features and facilities had to be innovative to make the iBus different and user friendly. We decided to incorporate Passenger Information System (PIS). Telematics with the use of a GPS tracking system, LCD screens and driver information systems were introduced. The Intelligent factor came in with extensive use of electronics for both the innovation as well as in the running of the bus itself.” The PIS displays dynamic route information based on the GPS location data. You get to know Estimated Time of Departure and Arrival, vehicle speed, weather conditions, etc.

The frequent brainstorming sessions of the team had one common goal – the design should impact the life of an emerging Indian. Says Bharath, “We wanted to design a city bus ideally meant for mass transportation needs. We sent out e-mails to almost 500 to 600 people to do a survey and found that the average requirement of most bus commuters was how to avoid sweating while traveling, beat traffic congestion and avoid delays. We also found that most commuters wanted to spend the long travel time constructively. So, when we thought of the iBus, we had to address all these factors.”

The ‘I’ design:

To start with, the iBus is built on semi low floor 635 mm chassis. For the first time a 152 KW, fuel-efficient common rail ‘eCORE’ engine, which is BS3 compliant, is installed as the power train. Along with power steering, a fatigue-free driver friendly unique feature being introduced for the first time is a no-clutch operation. Called an Automated Manual Transmission (AMT), the system is ideal for frequent start/stop intra city transportation. It combines the luxury of a fully automatic transmission with an ‘Indian’ cost. While the gear changes automatically, the driver has the option to shift to a required gear with the use of a joystick. Consequently, there are only brake and accelerator pedals on the floor.

An ‘intelligent’ electronic architecture is the heart of the iBus. The Central Body Control Unit interacts with all the on-board Electronic Control Units and provides diagnostic information to the driver. Additional features of the iBus include ABS, disc brakes, infrared camera and ultrasonic sensors mounted at the rear, which provides visual and audible alerts.

The front-end structure of the iBus is designed to be pedestrian-safe. The body structure is indigenously designed to absorb energy during impact. It is designed to meet European roll over safety standards (Indian Bus Body Code - AIS-031). The seating capacity is for 42 passengers.

For the passenger, the iBus has compartmentalized interiors. For the first time, you can choose between traveling Executive or Economy class in the same bus. There will be Internet on the move, airconditioning, reading lights and audio speakers.

“While conceiving the overall design of the iBus, we kept in mind four basic needs of the passenger – safety, comfort, economics and ecology. With this design, the first two aspects were taken care of for the passenger. For the vehicle operator, the economics would be better in comparison to normal buses because of the fuel-efficient engine, smoother drive and ergonomic design. The operator also has a revenue model in the LCD display which can be used for commercial displays,” says Vivek Upadhayay.

An ‘I’ to the future:

Now that the iBus has been exposed to the public gaze at the Auto Expo, it is left to the powers that be at Ashok Leyland to take it up for production for the larger benefit of the Indian passenger and his needs. The success of the concept and design is the result of a team effort and the encouragement given by a forward thinking management at Ashok Leyland, to the vast talent pool available within their young work force.

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