6 hours ago
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LAGOS – Coscharis Motors has unveiled its first set of factory-built Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, Joy Long in Nigeria.
The automobile company also said that as part of its mid-term plans, the CNG buses would be assembled in its assembly plant in Lagos in the near future.
The 2.7 litre engine bus, which has dual fueling capacity, can conveniently switch from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to CNG.
The bus also comes with a 15 litres petrol tank and 220 litres CNG capacity.
However, unlike the other converted vehicles, which have their CNG cylinders in the booths, the factory-built Joy Long buses have their CNG cylinders beneath and are well-protected.
While Coscharis intends to hit the Nigerian market with other seating capacity buses, it currently has 19-seaters of the brand in the country.
Speaking at the unveiling of the CNG buses in Lagos on Tuesday were Mr. Abiona Babarinde, General Manager, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Coscharis; Mr. Anthony Efe, National Sales Manager, Joy Long Brand, Mr. Charity Isah, Head Logistics & Operations and Mr. Felix Adepinye, Head of CNG Conversion.
Efe in his speech, said that the CNG-powered bus comes with minimal cost maintenance – 50 per cent reduction cost in fueling when compared to PMS, low engine noise and reduced cost for servicing and other maintenance.
According to him, the bus would be available in all its regional offices in Nigeria.
He said: “Coscharis has its offices across the six geo-political zones; Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Ibadan. We are well-spread. This bus comes with a two-year warranty or 60,000km, depending on which comes first. With Coscharis, you are rest assured that we are going to serve the public and give them the best that this CNG bus has on offer.
“Also, with a press of the bottom, you can move from fuel to CNG. It comes with a 15 litres fuel tank capacity. This fuel can be used to switch on the engine and you can, with the same press of a button, immediately convert it to CNG.
“The cylinders are beneath the buses. This is a 19 seaters bus, but we have different models of the brand, which can still be brought in. The 220 litres can go as far as 400km of more. It’s less than N10,000 to refuel it to fuel capacity.”
In his speech, Babarinde, said that the flexible seat capacity could be reduced or increased, depending on the customer’s specification.
He expressed that as part of the automobile company’s mid-term plans, it intended to commence the assembling of the buses in Nigeria.
“You are not alien to our assembly plant and that plant is an asset that we will use over the time to chunk out brands with hybrid specifications.
“The Joy Long bus was the very first we assembled when we had our Ikeja Plant before we moved down here. The whole idea of the plant is not meant to be rigid to other plants. We hope to assemble it here in the mid-term.”
Babarinde also said that Coscharis Motors was partnering with its Chinese partners for the marketing of the Joy Long brands in Nigeria.
He mentioned schools, logistics companies, government, corporate organisations and religious bodies as parts of the company’s target audience.
“Intending customers can approach one of our subsidiaries – Coscharis Mobility for financing. The company can provide the finance scheme for this and all our existing brands. We will always encourage our customers to talk to our Coscharis Mobility,” he added.
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