Automobile emission is one of the major contributors of Global Warming, and this is the main concern of automobile manufacturers around the world. Along with the best in-class quality and features it is important to control and if possible to eliminate the emissions from the latest offerings.
India is one of the top ranked countries in number of automobile and a large number of automobiles run on diesel which contributes more harmful nitrogen oxides. The Government of India has taken an initiative to introduce more vehicles including 2-wheelers and transport vehicle on electric platform.
Speaking about the project to AutoCar Professional, Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India, said, “We have involved all the major OEMs. On the bus platform we have Tata, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra, Eicher all on board. Their technical know-how, R&D facilities, along with centres of excellence and some IITs are coming together on the project. We are putting in government money for R&D. Since all OEMs are on board and they are deeply involved in the process, each of them would build their own prototypes and would be allowed to brand individually, but the platform specs and components would all be common.”
Further speaking on the development of EV platforms for the two-wheeler and small car segment Sharma said: “In the Indian transport scenario these three are the major focus areas. One-fourth of our auto sales are two-wheelers, so our initial focus was on providing viable electric two-wheelers and most of the present electric two-wheelers were using only imported Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean parts and our primary concern was to find an Indian solution for that.”
He added that EVs available in market from foreign manufacturers were too premium for the market and that the models were not developed keeping India in mind.
Talking about the EV platform for public transport, he said, “The third focus area is public transportation. With public transport largely being managed by state governments, lots of efficiencies can be brought in there. It is a major people mover and most of the fossil fuel spent is on public transport, hence electrification there would have a much higher scale of benefit and would directly result in a cleaner environment as well.”
These projects are part of the Indian Government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles scheme (FAME) which is now extended to all parts of the country, and sales of electric vehicles are also picking up.
To read more on Electric Vehicle’s, Click here
Also see: EV Charging Service at Bengaluru International Airport
Source: Autocar Professional
