India’s electric vehicle drive: Challenges and opportunities

NHEV begins Delhi-Jaipur electric highway trials on World EV Day 2022​

The National Highway for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) began the technical trial run for E-vehicles on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway as part of the Ease of Doing Business project. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, India's Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, set off the one-month technological trial run from India Gate in the nation's capital. This test drive intends to determine the EV infrastructure's economic viability along the 270-kilometer highway between Delhi and Jaipur. NHEV carried out the first stage of this technical trial run between Delhi and Agra on the Yamuna Expressway last year to evaluate the technical viability of the EV infrastructure on the highway.

Abhijeet Sinha, Program Director, NHEV, said, "Our previous Tech-Trial Run I on the Delhi-Agra highway covered 210 kilometre, and the current Tech-Trial Run II covering 278 kilometres over Delhi-Jaipur will facilitate Indian Highways to be transformed into EV-highways while testing both technical and commercial aspects over a span of 500 kilometres to the satisfaction of the entire spectrum of stakeholders--Users, Operators, Investors & Government of India as a Nation."

The TTR-I had piloted the concerns of the Operators and the Investors when it successfully established mechanisms for 30 minutes backup for EVs, 30 per cent lesser priced Electric Vehicles for Operators, 30 per cent Capex utilisations of Chargers, and 3 Years timeline for breakeven for investors.

In the TTR-2, commencing on Friday, NHEV aims to answer the concerns of the users by answering questions like One Person Seat Cost, One Day Car Renting Cost, One KM Highway Upgradation Cost, and CO2 Emission Saved by one EV over one year. Other factors like the requirement of a number of physical infrastructures and charging stations to support EVs efficiently and other associated requirements for safe inter-state EV transportation will also be studied during the trial run.

"We aim to develop not only an E-highways network but also a people-friendly network of 5000 km by 2024," Sinha further added. In the initial phases, NHEV conducts the tech-trial run on 500 km highways. The tech-trial run will be conducted for one month with a NueGo electric mobility coach from NHEV partner Green Cell Mobility and will cover all the aspects related to the EV operation on highways. During the tech trial run, the technical, economic, environmental, and social feasibility of the EVs will be studied.

A detailed report containing findings and recommendations from the tech trial run will be presented to the government for consideration before Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Govt of India, for inclusion of AHEM in NHAI while building future highways. The findings and experiences from these tech-trial runs will be utilised to convert 5000 km of traditional highways into E-Highway.
 

Amazon India and TVS Motor join hands to boost electric mobility​

Amazon India and TVS Motor Company have joined hands to strengthen electric mobility in the country, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

As part of the collaboration, a fleet of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers from TVS Motor will be deployed for Amazon’s last-mile deliveries.

In addition, the two companies will work in tandem to examine EV use cases for various Amazon business groups for its network and logistical requirements, the statement said.

In order to test solutions, the two companies will pilot TVS Motor’s electric vehicle solutions through partner base and delivery associates across India.

“TVS Motor is now ready with electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler product options for B2B (business-to-business) along with an ecosystem of connected service and alternate ownership.

“We are happy to collaborate with Amazon India, which marks a big milestone in our journey, and contribute to our joint goals of electrifying their mobility services,” TVS Motor Company Future Mobility Senior Vice President Manu Saxena said.

Amazon India Director-Customer Fulfilment, Supply Chain and Global Specialty Fulfilment, Abhinav Singh said the collaboration marks another decisive step for the company to achieve its goal of becoming net-zero carbon by 2040.


“Electric mobility is a significant component of our business operations and we are resolute in our commitment to transforming our transportation network to serve our customers more sustainably,” he added.

The collaboration strengthens Amazon India’s delivery network by adding electric two and three-wheelers to the existing fleet, Singh said.
“This will support our supply chain in minimising the environmental impact of our operations and contribute to Amazon India’s goal of inducting 10,000 EVs into our fleet by 2025,” he added.

In 2020, Amazon India announced that it would include 10,000 EVs in its delivery fleet by 2025.