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History Of Electric Vehicles In India
First Electric Car of India
In 1993, Eddy Current Controls launched India’s first electric car which was “Lovebird”. This electric car had a DC motor which was powered by a lead-acid battery. This electric car had a four-speed gearbox.
This electric car had 60 KM of driving range with a single charge. The battery took 6 to 8 hours to fully charge. However, this car had a limitation of driving on slopes as it had 15 degrees of driving on slopes.
Lovebird was first introduced in Auto Expo 1993.
Indian Government then allowed the commercial sales of this little car. The company was able to sell only 25 cars. In the early time of this car, government allowed a subsidy of 80,000 which was stopped and due to which company stopped the production of this Lovebird car.
First Electric three-wheeler in India:
India’s first electric three wheeler was launched in 1996 which was produced by Scooter’s India Pvt Ltd. This three-wheeler was named “Vikram Safa”.
Company manufactured 400 three-wheelers and sold them. This three-wheeler was powered by a lead-acid battery. This battery got damaged after every 41,250 kilometers so it cost very high and company stopped producing it.
First Electric Bus in India:
In 2000, first electric bus in India was launched. This electric bus was developed by BHEL. This electric bus had a seating capacity of 18 passengers and it was powered by the lead-acid battery.
BHEL produced 200 electric buses and ran these buses in Delhi with the help of Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. This bus also had the same problem with battery. The lead-acid battery cost high and the life of the battery was short.
This was the end of Electric Bus in India.
First successful Electric Car of India: REVA
Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) launched India’s first successful electric car which was named “REVA”. RECC was founded by Chetan Maini in 1994. It was a joint venture between the Maini Group of Bangalore and Amerigon Electric Vehicle Technologies (AEVT Inc.) of the USA.
This electric car used a prestolite battery. General Motors India announced its electric hatchback E-spark in Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi. The battery technology of this electric car was to supplied by Reva.
Mahindra & Mahindra acquired a 55.2% majority stake in Reva on 26 May 2010. After this, the company was renamed as Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd. Due to this; General Motors India dropped the plan of collaboration with Reva. In 2016, the company was rebranded as Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd.
Future of Electric Vehicles in India:
Indian government already showed its vision of converting all the vehicles in India to electric vehicles by 2030. According to the plans of government, in 2030, every car that will be sold would be electric car.
In India, mostly all the car manufacturers already announced their upcoming electric vehicles. This shows that there is a significant increase in production of electric vehicles. Consumers are also adopting electric and electric hybrid variants of vehicles.
State and central government are also trying to make a better charging infrastructure. Many state governments also provide subsidy for electric vehicles. Government is trying these practices to convert all type of transportation to all-EV.
India is also among the global EV race and making a significant place by adopting the electric vehicles easily. India will also be the hub battery production.
If we check the past, there are many new companies came which are developing their electric vehicles. Some of these companies are Ola, Simple Energy, Ather, Hyundai and MG. Tata is also making a significant place in this EV race as the Tata Nexon EV becomes the most sold Electric car in India with a number of 50000 sales.
Central Government has also extended the deadline for FAME -II subsidy till March 2024, which was earlier 2022. States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Goa etc are also offering subsidies.
Conclusion
The history of electric vehicles in India is definitely old as the first electric car in India was launched in 1993. Electric three-wheeler and electric bus was also launched in the past which were not that much successful because of the lead-acid battery. Due to lead acid battery, these electric vehicles cost very high and were not that much efficient.
Reva electric car was the first electric car of India which ran successfully. RECC developed this electric car in 2001. Mahindra & Mahindra acquired this electric car in 2010 and company was rebranded as Mahindra Electric Mobility Pvt ltd in 2016.
If we talk about the future of EV, it is definitely bright as government is trying everything to make the EV infrastructure easy. Government decided to convert all cars in 2030 to electric cars. Government is working with companies to make the charging infrastructure better. Subsidies and incentives are also being provided by the state and central government to make this possible.
Final Word
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