MAPNA Group and Oghab Afshan Industrial and Manufacturing Company signed an agreement to produce Iran’s first locally manufactured buses.
The agreement was inked in Semnan, northern Iran, between CEOs of MAPNA Electric & Control Engineering & Manufacturing Company (MECO) and Oghab Afshan Industrial and Manufacturing Company.
The collaboration will take place under a joint venture scheme which will operate in Alborz and Semnan provinces. It will focus on local design and manufacturing of automobiles, and urban and intercity buses and minibuses.
Localization of power train system is a key goal of the agreement.
Once fully operationalized, the agreement will significantly cut emissions and lower fuel consumption.
On the sidelines of his visit to Oghab Afshan industrial complex in Semnan, MAPNA Group President Abbas Aliabadi set out Iran’s electrification potentials. “Iran needs two- to three-thousand electric buses to renovate its bus fleet,” he said.
“This is a path trodden by many countries. Iran should move through the same direction,” Aliabadi added. “The environmental circumstances call for transformation of energy landscape and lower consumption. We should move towards electrification of rail, road, and urban transportation, and cut expenses” MAPNA President reminded.
Pointing to data on Iran’s electricity consumption pattern, he suggested that the idle capacity of Iran’s power plants -for nearly 8,500 hours throughout the year- can be used for electrified systems, including electric automobiles. “The infrastructures is ready out there,” Aliabadi said.
“With MAPNA Group’s valuable experiences in production of diesel-electric locomotives, and studies the company has carried out on urban bus systems, we are absolutely ready to produce electric buses,” he added.
MAPNA Group’s most recent electrification projects include installation of electric vehicle charging stations in Tehran. Similar plans are under operation for Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city.
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