Bengaluru/New Delhi, 23rd April 2023: Fresh Bus, a new-age intercity EV bus service announced the launch of its first electric bus fleet on the Bengaluru-Tirupati route today. With state-of-the-art electric buses, Fresh Bus aims to provide a futuristic alternative for a convenient, affordable, and environment-friendly intercity bus travel experience in India. The newly launched Fresh Bus is a 12 m premium coach with a capacity of 45+ seats. Fresh Bus services are currently available on the Bengaluru-Tirupati route at a special inaugural fare of Rs 399 per seat. The company will also commence services for the Hyderabad-Vijayawada route later this month.
With 0-100% charging within 2 hours, Fresh Bus can travel up to 400 km at a maximum speed of 90 km per hour. Fresh Bus is also equipped with a range of innovative features to offer a premium flight-like in-cabin experience to intercity bus travelers in India. The smart buses aim to elevate the bus travel journey with features like noise-free fully air-conditioned cabins, comfortable seating, uniformed and friendly crew, 45° seat recline, best-in-class seat pitch, IOT-enabled real-time air-quality and temperature monitoring, amenity kits, personal charging docks, Wi-Fi, real-time tracking, and more.
Fresh Bus aims to revolutionize bus travel in India with a strong emphasis on customer experience and passenger safety, through strict safety guidelines, vehicle inspections, and well-trained drivers. Fresh Bus crew of drivers are vetted through a rigorous process including alcohol level checks, random drug testing and regular training and driving quality checks. The e-bus service also provides 24×7 real-time assistance to travelers through the Fresh Bus app and customer support center. The Fresh Bus fleet is equipped with enhanced safety features to ensure passenger safety including regenerative braking, temperature sensors in batteries, CCTV surveillance, medical kits, onboard fire extinguishers and a pink seat feature for female travelers.
Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India congratulated the Fresh Bus team on the launch. “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the amazing team behind this innovative venture and to ixigo for backing Fresh Bus’s vision of creating a professional, modern, pan-India sustainable inter-city bus operator, upholding our vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he said. “Electric Vehicles are the future of transportation and new-age professional bus brands such as Fresh Bus will usher in a new era of travel that is cost-effective and green. This will also promote the ecosystem of Electric Vehicles and create new jobs for young tech professionals in our country. This is a testament to the fact that we can achieve sustainable development while promoting economic growth.”
Speaking on the Fresh Bus experience and the company’s expansion plans, Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, Founder, Fresh Bus, said, “Fresh Bus will focus on premium quality and customer experience to make bus travel an elevated travel experience for all. We are initially launching 24 electric buses this month across Bengaluru-Tirupati and Hyderabad-Vijayawada. In the next phase, we will start services on top 100 routes across India covering routes from/to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Pune and more. By the end of 2026, we expect to scale to 1000+ electric buses, set up 100+ charging stations pan-India and save over 4000 hectares of the forest!“
The Bengaluru-based EV bus startup had raised ₹26 Crores in seed funding from ixigo (Le Travenues Technology Limited) earlier this year. Unlike existing inter-city bus aggregators, Fresh Bus is a full stack technology-enabled smart bus operator, building and owning the customer experience for travelers end-to-end across finding, tracking and booking their electric intercity buses via the FreshBus website.
