India’s
leading engineering group Escorts Limited will be launching a multi-utility
Rural Transport Vehicle (RTV) named Rider in the next 12 months in the price range
of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh. This
vehicle will be exported too. The company will also be commercially launching a
hybrid tractor in the next two years. This was announced by Nikhil Nanda, Chairman
& Managing Director, Escorts Ltd.
Nanda
was speaking to a large gathering of dealers, employees and suppliers at the company’s
annual innovation platform, Esclusive 2019 held in Gurugram. The Esclusive annual show started in 2017 and
it had then unveiled a concept electric tractor. The company has now started
making this tractor. In the following year in 2018, the Esclusive platform showcased
an autonomous tractor, which Nanda said will be launched in 2020 in India and
abroad.
At
the Esclusive 2019 event, Escorts unveiled three new prototype vehicles for the
rural segment. These included a multi-utility Rural Transport Vehicle (RTV)
concept named Rider, a hybrid concept tractor and a hybrid backhoe loader
concept.
Escorts
showcased India’s first multi-utility Rural Transport Vehicle, RTV concept
named “Rider” to address the required mobility in rural farming and hard
terrain maneuvering. The RTV will also enable applications in haulage,
construction, agriculture produce logistics, and various other utility segments
offering a payload capacity of 750 KG and an optional four-wheel drive mode.
The
hybrid tractor is India’s first Hybrid Concept Tractor powered by fuel and
battery both. The company is launching this in the range of 70-75 HP which can
be boosted up to 90 HP with the help of its hybridisation feature. This unique
ability in a tractor brings to the market a product that reduces the emission
and increases the efficiency for the customer. The company also displayed a
range of tractor driven mini sugarcane harvester and self-propelled spraying
technology, reaffirming its thought leadership in farm mechanisation and precision
agriculture space.
Escorts’
Hybrid Tractor has four operating modes. In Hybrid mode, the machine uses two
sources of energy, diesel, and electric, to propel the vehicle. In pure
electric mode, the tractor can run only on batteries with zero emissions. In
ICE direct mode, the tractor is driven and operated as a conventional tractor.
It has three charging modes – Regeneration, when excess power is available
while working, ICE (through Internal Combustion Engine) and plug-in mode, in
which the vehicle in standstill position is connected to a standard wall socket
with a charging device.
The
company also showcased a hybrid backhoe loader concept, India’s first, for
smarter and greener construction equipment space. The loader is in the range of
50HP engine along with hybrid technology which can provide up to 75HP power. The
machine has Regenerative mode which send back the energy to the battery during
the excess power available in engine. It has three working modes – Hybrid, ICE
-Diesel and Electric -Excavator only.