Monday, August 31, 2020
By Kamal Swami
Tata Motors And Hyundai Cars Grab The Order For Electric Vehicles
Domestic carmaker Tata Motors and Hyundai Cars India Limited have succeeded in receiving the order of supplying the 250 electric cars to the government-owned body Energy Efficiency Services Limited for the use of electric vehicles by the government departments. According to reports the domestic carmaker, Tata Motors will supply 150 units of Nexon EC compact SUV, whereas the HCIL will supply 100 units of Kona electric SUV to the EESL.
It would be interesting to know that with an objective to accept the practice of electric mobility within the entire country by 2030, the government of India has initiated the strategy to encourage the use of electric vehicles among its officials to make the people aware about the benefits of electric vehicles. Following this strategy, the EESL is authorized to receive 1,000 electric vehicles from manufacturers. However, it is reported that among these 1,000 electric vehicles, the 750 EVs that were decided to be used as e-taxis have been kept on hold. In the words of Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL, “The e-taxi operators were wary of any fresh investments at this time, so we will let the tender lapse and wait till demand revives for e-taxis.”
It is after three years that EESL has invited bids from the electric car manufacturers for the supply of the electric vehicle. Before this back in 2107, the agency had invited bids for the supply of 1,000 EVs by the manufacturers, which was acquired by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. Unfortunately, that contract went into the bags. Now with this invitation, the EESL has invited bids for two with categories, according to which the 750 EVs should have the standard warranty for three years followed by comprehensive annual maintenance for the same period. The second category would have the vehicles with six years standard warranty, along with comprehensive annual maintenance for six years.
According to the sources associated with the process, the Tata Motors will supply the Nexon EV with the price tag of Rs. 14.85 lakh to EESL, which is almost Rs. 14,000 lesser than its market price of Rs. 14.99 lakh (ex-showroom price). On the other side, the Hyundai Kona will be priced 11% cheaper from its market price of Rs. 21.1 lakh (ex-showroom price).
