Electric Vehicles Make Their Way To Kartarpur Corridor

Jalandhar-based electric three-wheeler manufacturer Republic Motors has been selected by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Land Ports Authority of India to provide electric vehicles (EV) for the Kartarpur Corridor to enable 5K Indian passengers to commute daily. Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi, on November 9, 2019, to allow Indian pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.

The Jalandhar-based company will be providing six campus electric carts as a pilot and will be providing more if required. The campus vehicles are nine-seater electric carts that can go up to 110 kms on a single charge.

The electric carts will be carrying passengers from the terminal or Integrated Check Post (ICP), which is the starting point from the Indian side, to point 0, which is at the India-Pakistan border. Republic Motors has also set up charging points at the parking station to ensure undisrupted service.

Republic Motors’ cofounder Rahul Goyal told Inc42, “Through this experiment, we’re hoping to remove people’s inhibitions about emobility. Along with that, we’re serving our purpose of clean mobility.”

Previously, Republic Motors has also worked with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), railway ministry, Indian Navy, Indian Oil, Amity University, Lovely Professional University (LPU) and also some state’s municipal corporations.

The company was founded in 2013 by Rahul and Aditya Ghoshi. It primarily focuses on passenger and logistics vehicle manufacturing. Till now, the Jalandhar-based startup has launched e-rickshaw, golf carts, go-karts and 14-seater minibuses, along with EV spare parts.

Republic Motors works on both selling and renting out its products. The company already rents out its products — buses, carts, go karts and campus vehicles — to its clientele. It is also planning to rent out logistics vehicles for last-mile delivery through its 35 dealerships across India.

In addition, it is also running a pilot that allows e-rickshaw drivers to rent out EV batteries for INR 150. The pilot is currently limited to Jalandhar and will be making its way into Faridabad soon. Eventually, it is also planning to introduce a model to rent out e-rickshaws.

Goyal told Inc42, “By expanding our services, we are looking to become one of the top three players in the micro-mobility market by 2023.”