Wheels India, preferred supplier of wheels for all vehicle segments and air-suspension systems for commercial vehicles, made its presence felt at the show with an impressive display of its range of solutions for the bus and coach segment. The company’s focal product at the expo was its electronic leveling valve that improves the performance and fuel efficiency of air suspension vehicles.
“Our main focus here is on our electronic leveling valve which we believe will be the future for air-suspension vehicles. The market currently uses mechanical leveling valve for air-suspensions but our electronic leveling valve is a better and more advanced solution and is also more cost-effective. We have fitted the product in around 25 State Transport Undertaking (STU) buses which are currently under trial. The initial trial results have been positive with the STUs achieving an improvement in fuel economy by nearly 0.5 kmpl. We are also in touch with the OEMs and private fleet operators for this product and are confident of its success,” said a company spokesperson.
Apart from the electronic levelling valve, Wheels India also promoted its Electronically Controlled Air-Suspension (ECAS), forged aluminium wheels and other interesting solutions at its booth.
With OEMs and the industry as a whole stepping up focus on electric vehicles, Wheels India expects a gradual shift in preference from diesel towards electric, CNG and ethanol buses. On its part, the air-suspension specialist is ready with suspension solutions for CNG and ethanol buses, which are more or less similar to the standard suspensions used in diesel buses. That said, the Chennai-based firm is also aggressively gearing up for the future by adapting its suspension design and technology to suit electric buses with a leading OEM already testing its suspension on its electric bus.
“This is the first edition of Prawaas and it has been organized excellently. We never expected such a grand show and the response has been fantastic. The major benefit for us has been the opportunity to meet so many leading fleet owners from across the country under one roof. The Union Transport Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari had delivered a very good speech during the inaugural function and we hope the bus industry gets benefitted with the government’s support”, he added.