Electric Vehicles This Week: Mercedes EQC Launched In India, Hyundai Recalls Kona

The electric two-wheeler industry is showing signs of a revival after a Covid-19 induced slump, said industry body Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV). As per its estimates, EV industry has noticed a 72% YoY spike in the sales of High-Speed Electric two-wheelers (HS E2W) to 2,544 units.

“We are experiencing huge customers’ interest in greener vehicles as they have seen how the environment looks like when no fuel-guzzling vehicles are running on roads. The upcoming festive season will add to the pent up demand and help OEMs to recover what they lost in the quarter 1 and 2 due to Covid lockdown,” Sohinder Gill, director-general of SMEV told the Mint.

Between April 2020-September 2020, the industry registered sales of 7552 HS E2W, compared to 10,161 HS E2W sold in the same time period last year. 

Chart Of The Week: 

Germany has registered more than 21,188 in September 2020, representing a spike of over 260% compared to the models registered in September 2019. Battery electric vehicles (BEV) now account for an 8% share of the new car sales market.

EV News Of The Week

eBikeGo Plans To Scale Operation In Collaboration With ASSAR 

Amritsar-based electric vehicle (EV) startup eBikeGo, in partnership with Advanced Services for Social and Administrative Reforms (ASSAR) and Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), is planning to scale up its operations by introducing over 3K new e-bikes across seven cities in India.   

ASSAR would help its partners and riders enter electric mobility space through eBikeGO’s franchise-owned and company-operated model. Meanwhile, EoDB and eBikeGO would co-promote and co-deploy over 3,000 EV bikes in ecommerce and logistics companies such as Amazon, Big Basket and Swiggy. The Ministry of MSME would support the initiative through government schemes and augmenting funding. 

In the first phase, eBikeGo will deploy 900 electric bikes in Delhi, 700 each in Mumbai and Bengaluru, 200 in Pune, 150 in Amritsar, 150 in Hyderabad and 200 in Jaipur.

Uber To Onboard 1K EVs In 5 Cities 

Ride-hailing service Uber has partnered with EV technology company Urban Lithium Technologies to deploy over 1K electric sedans across its rental and premier offerings in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. The company has already deployed 100 EV on its platform and plans to scale up to 2K EVs in 12 months. 

Commenting on the partnership, Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India and South Asia said, “We are delighted to partner with Lithium Urban Technologies, a pioneer in sustainable urban mobility, and excited to provide greener commuting solutions to our riders. After our partnerships with Yulu, Mahindra and SUN Mobility, this is our fourth partnership in this space and Uber will always remain committed to providing smarter mobility, building greener cities and creating healthier lives.”

eMatrixmile, Magenta EV Gear Up To Add 10K Charging Stations

Mumbai-based eMatrixmile and Magenta EV Solutions has signed a memorandum of understanding to install and commission Qyk Pod electric vehicles (EV) charging startups in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Maharashtra region. The firm would install about 10K EV charging stations across India in sustained phases. 

“Qyk Pod is a technology-driven mobility platform that enables integrated urban mobility across public and private modes of transport with the help of micro-mobility vehicles, a user-friendly mobile app enabling first and last-mile connectivity,” the company said in a joint press release. With this, eMatrixmile aims to expand its reach to more than 50 cities by 2021.

 Mercedes EQC Electric SUV Launched In India

Luxury car manufacturer Mercedes has launched its Electric SUV EQC in India for INR 99.30 Lakh. In the first phase, the electric SUV will be available in six cities — Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. Mercedes EQC has a range of around 350 kilometres and a warranty of eight years on the battery pack. The top speed of the vehicle is 180 Km/hr, and can go from 0 Km/hr to 180 km/hr in 5.1 sec.

“It is a start. We feel the Indian market is ready for luxury EVs… We want customers here to experience what an EV is all about, what it can do. When Indian go abroad and drive such cars, they also want to come back and own and drive such vehicles here,” Santosh Iyer, vice president of sales and marketing at Mercedes-Benz India, said.

EV Headlines From Around The World

Hyundai To Recall Kona Over Faulty Battery Cell

Hyundai Motor Co is recalling its electric SUV Kona in South Korea due to a possible short circuit due to faulty manufacturing of its high-voltage battery cells, South Korea`s transport ministry has confirmed. This fault could pose a fire risk as well. 

The safety recall “is a proactive response to a suspected defective production of high-voltage batteries used in the vehicles, which may have contributed to the reported fires”, the company said, adding that it will deploy all necessary measures to identify the cause of the fire and address customers` needs.

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