Week 9 (Feb 23 - 29)
In this week's substack - Uber India's electrification plans, Hyundai to go local for EVs, Draft rules on Battery Waste Management, IOC to setup 500 EV charging stations and green corridors in Punjab.
Uber to electrify its India fleet in two years. Uber India has more than 350 electric vehicles and plans to expand that to 1,500 by year-end. In an interview with ET, Pradeep Parameswaran, President, Uber India South Asia said that India is a key market for the global ride hailing giant and that they will continue to partner with startups and the government to launch electric ride-hailing products. The company has already successful pilots in Chandigarh (electric autos), Bangalore (bicycle rentals), and Hyderabad. (electric sedan cars). He also said while e2Ws & e3Ws are commercially viable today, 4-wheelers are still 2-3 years away from being viable in the fleets segment.
Ola, Uber’s competitor in India, has been way ahead in its EV vision. In 2017, ANI Technologies, which owns and operates Ola, set up Ola Electric as a wholly-owned subsidiary to focus on leasing electric vehicles. In 2018, Ola had said it would add 10,000 electric rickshaws to its fleet in the next 12 months and have one million EVs by 2021.
Hyundai is likely to go more local for electric vehicles. India’s 2nd largest auto manufacturer is set to localize its supply chain to conform to the new customs duty hikes on CBU & CKD cars that go into effect from April 2020. While the Korean automaker localized up to 90% of the parts for conventional vehicles, the Hyundai Kona is currently imported in CKD format for which duty has been hiked by 5%.
Environment ministry releases draft rules for battery waste management. The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has uploaded a draft copy of the new rules that lay down responsibilities for all stakeholders from battery manufacturing to recycling. The new rules include batteries of all kinds, & a more strictly codified version of the existing Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules of 2001, which only mentioned lead-acid batteries. According to the draft rules, it puts the responsibility of the collection of batteries and their safe transport to the recyclers on the manufacturers and dealers. The move aims to bring into control the ever-growing use of electric batteries, especially in EVs, and emphasizes on battery recycling.
IOC to set up 500 EV charging stations across India. The Ministry of Power has given Indian Oil Corporation a target to set up 500 charging stations across the country. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has also been signed between IOC and companies like NTPC, Power Grid Corporation Limited, Hyundai Motors, Tech Mahindra, and Tata Power for setting up charging stations. 58 locations have been identified in Karnataka for setting up battery swapping and charging stations of which 26 charging stations and 8 battery swapping stations shall be set up by March 31, 2020.
Clean mobility for on Ludhiana-Jalandhar route. Seeking to offer clean mobility services, a pilot project to run 20 electric sedans on the Ludhiana-Jalandhar route is being proposed. The proposed project is a joint initiative of the Punjab government, World Economic Forum, and Mahindra & Mahindra subsidiary Smart Sustainable Mobility Solutions that has been running several electric mobility pilots across the country. Punjab intends to start few e-Mobility pilots, including inter-city with the deployment of electric sedans and intra-city through electric 3-wheelers. Currently, these operations are dominated by diesel, gasoline, and CNG vehicles.
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