Electric Vehicles This Week: India’s $4 Bn Incentives; Trump & Biden Agree On EVs

The department of heavy industries, on Tuesday (September 29), extended the deadline for localisation of several components unders its phased manufacturing programme (PMP) for electric vehicles (EV) from October 1, 2020, to April 1, 2021.

The PMP compliance is a condition for availing subsidies under the INR 10,000-Cr second phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles (FAME) scheme. The revised deadline will come as a boon for the EV industry, whose plans for localisation were derailed due to the pandemic.

In September, the department of heavy industries also extended the validity of the FAME II  certificate for all approved EV models for a period of three months to December 31, 2020.

Chart Of The Week: 

Elon Musk-led Tesla has sold 196K Model 3 to customers worldwide in the first half of 2020. The company reached nearly 253K sales globally after adding Model Y, Model S and Model X. Tesla Model 3 was followed by Renault Zoe with 52K sales, Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Kona EV with 31K sales, and Volkswagen e-Golf with 29K sales.

Total 1.4 Mn EVs were sold in the first half of 2020.

EV News Of The Week

India Plans $4.6 Bn In Incentives For Battery Markers

Think tank- NITI Aayog has proposed to offer incentives worth $4.6 Bn to companies setting up advanced battery manufacturing facilities in India. The company aims to cut down on oil dependency and promote EV with this initiative.

India could slash its oil import bills by as much as $40 Bn by 2030 if electric vehicles were widely adopted, NITI Aayog said in its proposal. It will be reviewed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet in the coming weeks.

Okinawa Announces Eco App For Its Connected Scooters Range

EV startup Okinawa has announced its mobile app Eco App for the new ‘intelligent scooter’ models iPraise+ and Ridge+ e-scooter range. The application allows a customer to use Google maps in roads and satellite view to see location of the scooter on the map. Thus, further enabling ‘find my scooter’ function, that guides directions from phone’s location to scooter’s location.

“At Okinawa we are always working tirelessly to innovate and offer better in terms of technology. The new Eco mobile application is our effort to showcase how technology today has brought EVs at par with ICE counterparts in terms of convenience. With Eco app, our customers can explore the best in class products and experience which establishes the efficiency of EVs,” said Mr. Jeetender Sharma, MD and founder, Okinawa.

Ampere Electric Rolls Out New Features For EV Models

Greaves Cotton’s wholly owned emobility subsidiary Ampere Electric has unveiled new and enhanced products features for its popular electric scooters Reo, Magnus, Zeal and V48 to enhance the overall driving experience and provide more comfort to customers.

The Reo Plus series is enabled with new features like USB mobile charging and ignition start button, Elite series will come with improved load-carrying capacity and enhanced mileage, e-scooter Zeal Ex is upgraded with 10% better mileage and smoother ride performance.  Meanwhile, V48 is now equipped with LED headlights and tubeless tyres for better visibility and convenience in rural markets.

The new variants are available at all the leading Ampere Dealership outlets in over 180 cities and towns across India with improved mileage and features.

Ather Energy Unveils 450X Scooter Collectors’ Edition

Bengaluru-based EV startup Ather Energy has unveiled its collector’s edition of its latest model Ather 450X called Series 1. This limited-edition scooter is available to those users who had pre-ordered the scooter before the national launch of the Ather 450X on January 28th, 2020.

Series1 has been conceptualised and designed to celebrate the amplified performance of the Ather 450X, the company said. The Series1 comes with a high-gloss metallic black body color combined with accents of red, and it is also fitted with translucent panels in the rear that offer a peek inside the scooter.

The Series1 edition will have a 6 kW PMSM electric motor which gets its energy from a 2.9 kWh lithium-ion battery, like the standard Ather 450X. It will also have the same set of riding modes – Eco, Ride, Sport, and a high-performance ‘Warp’ mode.

EV Headlines From Around The World

Biden, Trump Agree On EVs At Least

During the 2020 presidential debate on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and Presidential candidate Joe Biden were asked their views on climate change and their plans to protect the environment. While both of them had very different approach, they seemed to have agreed on one thing — electric vehicles.

This may come as a relief to EV manufacturers like Tesla, Ford, General Motors, Panasonic and QuantumScape, which have high stake in the US market.