Maruti bets on hybrids over EVs in clean shift
MUMBAI: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the automaker that sells every other car on the nation’s roads, believes electric vehicles aren’t the answer to reducing carbon emissions in the world’s third-biggest releaser of greenhouse gases—at least not in the immediate future.
India’s largest automaker reckons that vehicles powered by hybrid technology, natural gas and biofuels present a better path toward a cleaner future than electric cars considering the nation generates about 75% of its electricity from dirty coal, chairman RC Bhargava said in an interview.
“Talking about electric cars without looking at the greenness of the electricity generated in the country is an inadequate approach to this problem,” Bhargava said in an interview from his home in Delhi last week.
“Until the time we have a cleaner grid power, it’s necessary to use all the available technologies like compressed natural gas, ethanol, hybrid and biogas, which will help reduce the carbon footprint and not push any one technology.”
Those views put Bhargava at odds somewhat with several of the world’s largest car manufacturers, including No. 2 player Volkswagen AG, which is forecast to unseat Tesla Inc. as the leading maker of electric cars as soon as 2024. Toyota Motor Corp., which sells the most cars globally, is putting a lot of money into electrifying its line up too but believes in hybrid technology as a logical interim step while the industry builds out stable battery supply chains.
India’s shift to electric vehicles is also much slower than other major markets like China and the US even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has committed to making the South Asian nation a net-zero carbon emitting one by 2070. Arthur D. Little estimates by 2030, electric passenger cars will make up only about 5% of total EV sales. More progress on the two- and three-wheeler front will bring the automobile battery-powered total to about one-third.
Charging EVs with clean energy and reducing dependence on coal is difficult in India, the world’s second-most populous country with some 1.4 billion people. The nation was forced to import millions of tons of coal after electricity demand soared amid scorching summer temperatures and rising industrial activity after the pandemic.
Maruti plans to launch its first hybrid car under a partnership between its parent Suzuki Motor Corp. and Toyota within 12 months, Bhargava said. Hybrid cars are also a better alternative than EVs given India lacks adequate charging infrastructure, he said.
Maruti will additionally move “aggressively” into cars that run on compressed natural gas because they’re cleaner than petrol or diesel models and cheaper than EVs, making them a viable option for low-income consumers who want to upgrade from a two-wheeler, he said. Although compressed natural gas is a fossil fuel, it’s one of the cleanest burning in terms of emissions.