Electric Vehicles This Week: Zomato & Swiggy’s Electric Dream & India’s $180 Bn Need

Delhi government has formed an electric vehicles (EV) forum to bring stakeholders on the same page of its EV policy, The stakeholders would include EV manufacturers, fleet operators and charging point operators. The government also held its first meeting on December 18, 2020.

The focus of the discussions in the first meeting was:

• On-ground challenges on the deployment of EVs and charging infrastructure
• Identifying potential solutions, providing clarity related to concerns and questions regarding provisions of the policy
• Gaining commitments from private players to help achieve the EV and charging infrastructure targets defined in the policy

Delhi government, in its press statement, said that the first virtual meeting under the forum will “enable engagement of a wide range of stakeholders in the EV ecosystem for successful implementation of the EV policy.”

“The forum may conduct additional meetings that focus on specific issues and subjects related to policy implementation. The discussions through the forum workshops will identify measures to establish Delhi as the EV capital of India,” said Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of the dialogue and development commission, which advises the Delhi government on policy matters.

Chart Of The Week:

Electric Vehicles 

News Of The Week

India Needs $180 Bn Investment To Boost EV Segment

A recent study by CEEW Centre for Energy Finance (CEEW-CEF) has revealed that India needs a cumulative investment of over $180 Bn in vehicle production and charging infrastructure until 2030 to meet Indian EV ambition.

The report also noted that EV sales in all segments could cross 100 Mn units by the financial year 2030, representing a 200x hike from the current market size.

The study also estimates that realising India’s EV ambitions would require an estimated annual battery capacity of 158 GWh by FY30.

Zomato, Swiggy Are Looking To Electric Fleet

Food aggregators Zomato and Swiggy are looking to switch at least 10% of their delivery fleet to electric in 2021. The two companies are in talks with electric scooters and bike aggregators like Zypp, Spinny, and eBikeGo for the same.

Swiggy has confirmed the report, whereas Zomato did not respond to the queries shared with the company. “Driving adoption of electric vehicles among its delivery partners by engaging with well-known players who provide B2C mobility solutions,” a Swiggy spokesperson said.

Ola Electric To Cost Not More Than INR 1 Lakh

Bengaluru-based Ola Electric will price its maiden two-wheeler scooters at around INR 90,000-INR 95,000 per unit, according to three people aware of the development. The company is looking to launch electric scooters in India and Europe. The company recently announced that it will also launch its scooters in New Zealand.

Branded ‘App Scooter’, Ola’s two-wheelers will have support for charging at home and using public charging infrastructure. The App Scooter is said to have three interchangeable battery modules — each battery has a capacity of 600W per module providing an 80Km range per module. Ola will look to launch App Scooter in India by February 2021.

Okinawa Discontinues Lead-Acid Battery Pack Based E-Scooters

EV manufacturer Okinawa, on December 10, announced that it has discontinued its lead-acid products and will now only be focusing on the lithium-ion versions only. The company has about five lead-acid scooters, starting its journey with Okinawa Ridge. Over the years, it has also introduced lithium-ion detachable battery-equipped e-scooter versions of these scooters.

“We are shifting to 100 percent lithium-ion battery pack based two-wheelers. When we launched the brand, lead acid was the most advanced option available in the market. Now with rigorous growth of the industry and the brand, we have taken a step ahead and have discontinued lead-acid battery pack-based products, Jeetender Sharma, MD, and founder of Okinawa, said.

eBikeGo Launches ‘Risk-Free’ Sanitisation Delivery Box

Emobility startup eBikeGo has launched a ‘risk-free’ sanitisation delivery box called SpectraClean, which relies on ultraviolet light (UV-C) disinfection technology. The company claims that the delivery box is effective against all micro-organisms and can reduce Covid-19 by 99% in a few seconds.

“With this, the food delivery ecosystem will change radically with wellbeing safety norms. SpectraClean will currently be available to all merchants, restaurants, cloud kitchens, bakeries, etc. that are a part of the food delivery ecosystem. Initially, these boxes will be available for the food delivery companies and later will be available for all individual B2B and B2C customers” said Irfan Khan, founder, and CEO of eBikeGo.

Electric Vehicles Headlines From Around The World

Arrival Looks To Set Up Head Office In Charlotte

UK-based EV startup Arrival, which is looking to go public through a merger with special purpose acquisition company CIIG Merger corp, has picked Charlotte for its North American headquarters.

The company said it will add 150 new employees to support the headquarters and invest about $3 Mn in office space. The company has raised about $110 Mn investment from Hyundai and Kia earlier in January.

Volvo To Produce Electric Motors At Powertrain Plant

Volvo Cars has announced its target of producing electric motors at its powertrain plant in Sweden. The company is also looking to establish a complete in-house e-motor production with an investment of SEK 700 Mn by 2025.

The company is aiming to become a premium electric car company with 50% of its global sales to be fully electric vehicles by 2025.