Slovenian bus and commercial vehicle manufacturer, TAM has showcased the Vero modular range of 7.76 metre to 10.75 metre e-buses. With a choice of 141 kWh or 282 kWh batteries, the buses promise a range of 130-250 km range.
TAM priorities people transportation over battery capacity, with flexible charging options. The approach results in the use of smaller battery packs and reduced overall weight. Charging can be onboard, depot, inductive and pantograph charging. The platform is flexible enough to allow for a range of charging options.
TAM embarked upon the e-bus project in 2016, with market entry commencing this year. It took this long because TAM wanted to develop a fully monocoque bus from scratch rather than retrofitting a e-bus architecture on its diesel buses. It is this approach that delivers modularity in terms of flexible door, roof and layout arrangement are possible and four different vehicle lengths are possible.
The buses can be easily switched between a LHD to RHD options. The wheel-to-wheel flat floor can accommodate as many as 5 wheelchairs. There is even an option to integrate the AC unit such that it cannot be seen on the bus. Such modularity also allows for easy serviceability and part/aggregate replacement.
Further, a combination of stainless steel and light weight composites result in 30% reduced empty weight. Vero’s all-wheel steering offers outstanding maneuverability to support operations in narrow roads.
Not surprisingly, the company has a 120-bus order pipeline across Europe. Further, a new multinational management has offered the company good market access in China and the Middle-East. Going forward the company plans to electrify its ‘Vive’ coach range and even develop e-panel vans.
Eventful history
The company’s beginnings were in the erstwhile Yugoslavia, about 65 years ago. By1986, TAM had produced 2,00,000 vehicles under the communist regime. By the time, the country split in different constituent countries in the 1990s, TAM was exporting to many markets including the USA.
But it was to be as late as 2013 when DuraBus invested in TAM that the company began manufacturing tourist, airport and city buses. The Vivair brand of airport buses made a mark, and the company began investing in electric eVIVAIR that has a 162 kw/h battery pack, electric-driven air-conditioning, steered and driven independent axle and fact charging up to 100 kW.