Setback for Tata, M&M as govt officials reject EVS
NEW DELHI: Senior government officials have refused to use electric vehicles (EVS) made by Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd citing poor performance and low mileage, said three people aware of the development.
The vehicles are procured and deployed by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a public sector unit under the ministry of power. Initially, due to lack of charging infrastructure, the supply of electric variants of Mahindra’s Verito and Tata Motors’ Tigor was delayed.
Tata Motors and Mahindra were to supply 350 units and 150 units, respectively, to the Union government in the first phase. Subsequently, the auto makers were to give another 9,500 units of EVS to EESL, with M&M accounting for 40% of the total.
Taking into consideration the shortcomings of E-verito, Mahindra is developing a new electric vehicle that gives more mileage, said the second of the three people mentioned above, requesting anonymity.
According to a senior official from one of the ministries involved in formulating rules and regulations for electric mobility, both models failed to run even 80-82km on a single charge within city limits. Battery capacity was not up to the mark, compared to global standards, the official added, requesting anonymity.
In reply to an emailed query, EESL said there are more than 150 EVS on the roads in Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. The firmdid not specify the reason for the delay in procuring vehicles for government use nor deny that officials had refused to use the vehicles.
“Since it is a new technology, we wanted to gain confidence on our products before delivering it to our clients,” an EESL spokesperson said. “We will be deploying about 200-250 EVS by midjuly. The conditions of the second tender are being re-evaluated and will be released soon. EESL will continue to enable more energy and fuel savings by creating a robust market for e-mobility in India.” On January 1, had reported that the entire fleet of EVS was supposed to be delivered by November 30, 2017. Subsequently, the deadline was pushed to December 30, 2017 due to lack of charging infrastructure. So far, only around 150 vehicles have been supplied, EESL said.
According to a senior industry executive, these two models have limited range. Their battery packs are of 17 kilowatt (kw), while the global standard is 27-35kw. Hence, the apprehensions of officials are genuine and the refusals to use the vehicles acceptable, said the executive.
Mint