The APSRTC is taking up electrical and civil works at 12 of its depots for establishing the EV charging points to recharge the 750 e-buses that will be operating in the 11 cities.

The APSRTC executive director (Operations) A. Appala Raju said, "We are expecting that all the 750 electric buses will be operating in Andhra Pradesh within three months."

Cities like Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, and Nellore have been allotted 100 e-buses each, while Kakinada, Rajamahendravaram, Amaravati, Kadapa, Tirupati, Kurnool and Anantapur have 50 each.

As per a thumb rule, one EV charger is essential to recharge five e-buses. RTC authorities are installing EV chargers at their depots in and around the 11 cities accordingly.

Authorities say to fully charge an e-bus, it takes about four hours. Once charged, the e-bus is expected to run for 180-200 km. Drivers who will be operating the electric buses are being given clear instructions that what the level of charge their dashboard may show, they must take their bus to their respective depot for charging once the bus runs for 170 kilometres. This is to ensure that no e-bus gets stranded on the road for want of charging.

There are two modes of charging the e-buses. One is the slow mode, which gives the battery more durability. The other is the speed mode of charging. Recharging the bus for 45 minutes helps it operate for 110 km. But the durability of the battery would suffer in such a case.

Significantly, central government is providing 60 per cent financial support for taking up the civil works at the charging stations. The centre's financial support for the electric works, like laying HT lines, installation of EV charges and so on, is 100 per cent.