India to get 10,000 electric cars soon: Here’s how

State-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, the company behind the success of the LED light bulb project in India is taking up another project. This time it has to do with electric cars. Here’s everything that you want to know.

10,000 electric cars in India

India’s aim to become fossil-fuel free car industry by 2030 has invited a lot of comments from around the world. After the recent GST implementation, where the hybrid vehicles did not receive any tax benefit under the new tax regime. The government said that they do not want to focus on the hybrid vehicles, instead, they want to focus on the electric cars.

Now to kick-start the electric car era in India, the government has given the responsibility to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL). The company will empower government departments with the electric cars over a next few years. The company has invited tenders for the same.

What does the tender ask for?

EESL has invited global tenders to bid for an order of 10,000 electric cars. The cars need to be four-door sedans and they must have a range of 120-150 km per full charge. The delivery of the cars will happen in two phases. The first phase will deliver 1,000 units of electric cars, which will for the exclusive use of government departments in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR).

That’s not all. To make the road infrastructure ready for such vehicles, EESL has also floated tenders of 3,000 alternating current (AC) charging points and 1,000 direct current (DC) charging points. Initially, 400 chargers will be provided in the first phase. The charging points will be deployed by state-run power generation companies – NTPC and PowerGrid on the basis of demand. The time frame for the same is not clear yet but it will at least take a year to complete the tender process.

The government has estimated an expenditure of Rs. 1,200 crore for the vehicles and Rs. 80 crore for the chargers. Each car is estimated to cost around Rs. 12 lakh and the charger Rs. 2 lakh.

Which cars may come to India?

While there are many electric cars around the world and here are a few that we may look at in the future.

Tesla Model 3

Tesla has already expressed its interest in the Indian market. The American manufacturer is planning to launch the Model 3 in India and it also fulfills all the criteria. The car has a range of over 350 km and it gets 4 doors. The only worry is the cost of the Model 3. It will be priced at around Rs. 35-50 lakh with the import taxes.

Chevrolet Bolt

It is a big hatchback but has four-doors as required by the tender. It has 380 km range and is priced at about Rs. 24.5 lakh in the USA market. The cost factor may act against it if Chevrolet plans to apply for the tender.

Hyundai Ioniq

Hyundai already had plans of launching the Ioniq in India. The Ioniq is a fastback sedan and is available in an all-electric version too. It has a range of about 200 km on a single charge and will carry a price tag of around Rs. 35-40 lakh.

Nissan Leaf

Nissan is also considering bringing the new Leaf to India. The Leaf is again a big hatchback. The all-new Leaf will be unveiled in Septemeber and is expected to have a range of over 200 km.

Mahindra e-Verito

Mahindra is the only manufacturer in India to sell electric vehicles. The e-Verito will be the most likely choice of the EESL. The e-Verito comes with a range of 110 km and it also fulfills the 4-door sedan criteria. The e-Verito is priced from Rs. 9.5 lakh, which works in its favour.