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Eletra announced a millionaire investment to start work on its new electric bus factory in SP. The expectation is to produce 1,8 vehicles per year and generate hundreds of jobs.
Eletra will invest BRL 22 million in its new factory by the end of the first quarter of 2023. The electric bus assembly unit will be installed in a new location in São Bernardo do Campo (SP). Around R$ 10 million of this total investment has already been invested in the acquisition of the new building. The remaining BRL 12 million will be used to finance the purchase of new equipment and manufacturing for the electric bus production unit.
Factory in São Bernardo do Campo (SP) promises to generate more than 150 direct jobs
According to Eletra's executive director, Iêda de Oliveira, after the completion of the investment, the company plans to reach a nominal production of 1,8 vehicles per year. The expanded capacity, plus the hiring of 150 employees to take place in December, serve as a preparation for the company to also start exporting its electric buses.
Currently, Eletra only meets the demands of the domestic market. According to the executive in an interview at the beginning of the month, during Lat.Bus Transpúblico, a transportation fair held at São Paulo Expo, Eletra is getting ready to be a major Brazilian electric bus assembler. The company lost a lot of space in South America to rivals in other markets.
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To serve this market, the company will launch, by the end of 2022, five models of electric buses, one with 12 meters and capacity to carry 70 passengers, models with 12,8 meters for 80 passengers, another of 15 meters for 101 passengers, models from 21 to 150 and finally, one of 10 meters that can carry up to 54 passengers. All equipped with Caio bodywork and chassis that can vary between Scania and Mercedes Benz models.
Electric bus unit will have gradual production
Eletra started its operation in Brazil in a smaller factory, also located in São Bernardo do Campo, in the Montanhão district. According to the executive director, the new unit will probably manufacture from next September, a period slightly beyond what was previously stipulated, which indicated August as the month for the start of production at the new unit.
The production pace will be gradual until the goal of 150 units per day. Iêda says that at first production will be 5 electric buses per day, jumping later to 7 and expanding later according to chassis deliveries from automakers. The company's production process works according to the following flow: Once the order is placed by the transport operator, the company does not order the chassis from the assembler and the bodywork from other assemblers.
Once the chassis and bodies are integrated, the buses leave in stork trucks for the factory located in ABC Paulista, where the electric powertrain, which is currently available by the Brazilian WEG, and the battery packs are installed.
Meet Eletra
Eletra is a Brazilian company that has been developing and integrating traction systems for electric trucks and buses for more than 3 decades.
In 1999, it was responsible for producing the first hybrid electric bus with national technology and, currently, it is a reference in Brazil and other countries in sustainable public transport, producing electric buses in trolleybus, hybrid and pure electric versions.
