EKA comes out as a very inferior company… the minus Points of EKA are:

1. Eka has very few seating space after implementing the female, handicap and senior citizen seats.
2. Eka has almost NO AIRCONDITIONED BUSES on roads (all Olectra Buses are AC) … although EKA websites says the buses are Airconditioned on its website. When the bus runs on cheap electricity (and not expensive diesel) it is still cheaper than diesel run buses? Do our citizen need to travel in comfort? If AC buses are there then more people will use the buses instead of using Scooters & Cars.
3. The carrying capacity of EKA is much less than Olectra but the width of the bus is almost similar.
4. The Range of Eka is almost half of Olatra Greentech Bus inspite of being half the size and lower carrying capacity.
5. Eka has very inferior rear camera and display monitor.
6. Eka has inferior ride quality.

Strangely what is shown on EKA company website is FULL AC BUS… but what is seen on Mumbai Roads are NON AC BUSES. It doesn’t make much sense of buying NON-AC electric buses because the cost of operating an Electric Bus is much lower than a Diesel Bus and BEST NEVER buy such buses… they lease them in from another company.

Both buses need much better seating:

1. In both buses the seating is VERY UNCOMFORTABLE… wide sofa type seats of earlier BEST were much better.
2. Shoulder space is very less. Everyone has to adjust and sit. Not at all comfortable.
3. The seats are so weak that when the bus is in motion and you hold it it also moves with you in such a way that it feels it will break. Not as strong as the original BEST seats.

The hanging (ID-Card type) plastic is so crap that it hits your face and eyes if you are 6ft… and its too high for most Indian ladies (5ft)… the previous 1 ft long hanging “ladies-bag-handle” type cloth of original BEST were much better and practical.

These changes must be requested by BEST to these bus manufacturers so that they will be able to deliver a better product than the Chinese Manufacturers.

BOTH BUSES HAVE BAD DRIVERS … who find GREAT pleasure in abusing the huge torque of the Electric Bus.

Its like the drivers have got a new toy and are playing some kind of a video game. Almost every 1-2 minutes they love jerking the bus completely… bringing it to a sudden halt from 40-50kmph… by stepping on the brakes suddenly and then giving sudden acceleration… then again going to 50kmph in few seconds.

This spoils the passenger’s Bus-riding experience completely. It even induces nausea if you are on a full stomach.

Senior citizens/children can get thrown off their seats in such actions by the driver.

BEST needs to MONITOR & TRAIN their drivers to drive properly and to use the high torque of the buses with responsibility. BEST can use the GPS to monitor these sudden movements and penalize drivers with very high sudden movements. Uber regularly monitors such jerky ride quality of their drivers and educate the drivers about these actions.