Tesla has paved a path for the future of transportation. For India, there are a bunch of companies who play a huge role in electrifying the Indian roads and two of such companies are discussed below.
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Effect of internal combustion engine vehicles:
Global warming, increase in earth’s temperature, pollution such words are very popular these days. Power production, transportation and steel manufacturing are some of the most polluting sectors of the society. An average vehicle emits several kilos of carbon monoxide Co, nitrogen oxide NOx, hydrocarbons and other harmful gases. However even after oxidation in catalytic converter, we have huge amount of carbon dioxide to handle. Also, greenhouse gases like CO2 has increased the global average temperature by 0.74 degree Celsius over the last century. And It is estimated that by 2050 this would be 4-6 degrees which would have a big impact in the global ecosystem. We now realize that we have to do something. Electric vehicles? Well that is the most promising solution as of now. So, who is the Tesla of India? I don’t want to call them that way because I feel every company is so unique. If the phrase ‘electric vehicles in India’ strikes my mind, I think about these two companies, Mahindra and Ather energy.
Mahindra Electric:
Mahindra is the company that makes great off-road vehicles and I would tag this company as ‘The SUV maker of India’. Apart from their rugged SUVs, they think about the future of the Indian roads. Started from Reva, e2o, they went so high that they won the EPrix 2016 which is like formula one for electric works. Woah! That was so cool right? The feel you get when one’s country’s national anthem played in a foreign country, priceless. Even now they have a very strong TEAM for this event. Also, their products in the Delhi auto expo revealed capability in this field TUV electric, E-Verito are a few examples. Recently, the company has launched e-Supro which is an electric pickup truck. The price may seem to be a bit more but hey I’m not complaining because the main cost in an EV is its batteries and they are batteries are getting cheap every day.
Ather Energy:
Coming to the other company. I guess a few of you are unaware of the Bangalore based start-up Ather energy. Their scooters seem to be promising and looks futuristic as well. Moreover, while the other brands used lead acid batteries in their electric two wheeler, Ather slashed them and installed Lithium-ion batteries instead mounting them in the foot-board. I saw a video of the company’s Co-founder Mr. Tarun Mehta talking about his scooter, he said that almost every part of the vehicle is vertically integrated that is, there is almost no OEMs involved and this brings down the cost. And it actually worked. through more than a lakh rupee for a scooter may seem expensive, keep in mind that it is an electric scooter and prices would come down very soon. Also, it would have costed more if they are dependent on external agencies.
Hyundai Kona:
This may be new in the list but a very worthy mention as this is the first electric car in India to get a good range and power. People have already started to show interest in this car though it is placed in the 25 lakh mark. Hyundai has plans to erect its charging station in all of it’s showrooms and almost all of the indian oil petrol bunks and if that is implemented, it will be very convenient for long drives.
| Dimensions | 4180mmX800mmX1570mm |
| Battery capacity | 39.2KWh |
| Range | 452 Km (ARAI) |
| Max Power | 136 Bhp |
| Max Torque | 394 Nm |
| Top speed | 167 Kmph |
| Charger | DC fast : 57 minutes (80%) AC wall : 7.2 KW : 6 hours 10 minutes 2.8 KW : 19 hours |
Source: Hyundai Kona
The Government’s Role:
One important thing to be noted here is that the government is about to ban auto rickshaws in the year 2023 and two wheelers under 150cc (the most selling segment) in the year 2025 and there are also plans for converting Indian to all electric before 2030. This is the very good for both the companies as mahindra launched the Treo electric auto rickshaw and ather is going to expand its dealership units and charging network across India. Also, there are talks going on to decrease the GST percent further from 18 percent to 5 percent on all electric cars and if this happens, these vehicles can get even cheaper.
