In The News

The rebound in diesel consumption has trailed petrol in India after the covid lockdown eased. A number of factors including people choosing private over public transport, trucks remaining idle amidst a softer economy and the falling premium between petrol and diesel prices are to account for lower consumption. But this uneven demand recovery also points to a future where refiners will have to change their product mix by making less diesel and more petrol and petrochemicals. Already companies like RIL, IOCL and even sectors like railways are shifting away from diesel and transport fuels into hydrogen-powered buses and electrification.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) in association with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Invest India has announced a global competition called ‘Startup Sparks’. This competition is aimed at early stage startups to pitch ideas on EVs and alternate mobility, connectivity and servitization of EVs, future mobility, and customised application and industrial products. The final shortlisted startups will participate in the preincubation module followed by the nine-month incubation programme called ‘the Farm’. This platform is expected to help participants get their ideas to the proof of concept stage with mentorship, guidance and infrastructure.

MG Motor India has partnered with e-waste recycling and end-to-end service provider, TES-AMM for recycling batteries of its electric vehicle ZS EV. In a bid to develop a comprehensive EV ecosystem, the company believes that this partnership will ensure that batteries re-enter EV value chain. TES-AMM has Asia's only Li-ion battery recycling plant and is one of the few companies certified in multiple management systems.

Bengaluru-based mobility service provider, Ola is setting up its first EV manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu. The company will invest INR 2400 crore to set up this plant which will create around 10,000 jobs. The factory is expected to be completed within 18 months and aims to sell around one million vehicles in its first year, not just in India but also to markets in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The manufacturing facility will first roll out scooters which will be followed by other categories of two, three and eventually four-wheelers.

A recent study by the Centre for Energy Finance (CEEW-CEF) noted that India will need a cumulative investment of over $180 bn to meet its EV ambition. This investment is needed in vehicle production and charging infrastructure until 2030. Further, fuelling this EV ambition would also require an estimated annual battery capacity of 158GWh by 2030. All this would mean that EV sales in all segments could cross 100 mn units by FY2030, a 200 times jump from today.

The two companies are collaborating to set up an advanced global e-mobility software engineering centre in Bengaluru. The centre which houses a design studio and laboratories will utilise Tata Technology’s expertise in embedded systems and recruit world class talent to develop GKN’s next generation e-Drive technologies. The collaboration is expected to reshape and drive the future of e-mobility in India.

One of the world’s leading automotive alliance has announced several initiatives as part of its new cooperation strategy including the Leader-Follower Scheme. This scheme by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance will deliver investment reductions of up to 40 per cent in new models, strengthen each company’s existing leadership position in reference regions (core geographies), and synergise opportunities across all platforms, powertrains, and key technologies. For instance, by 2025, close to 50 percent of the Alliance models will be developed and produced under this scheme. Similarly, in new technology development, Nissan will take the lead in autonomous driving while Renault will lead Android-based platform for connected-car technologies.

Bengaluru-based EV component maker, Entuple E-mobility is looking to raise USD 3-3.5 million of equity to set up a 150,000 unit capacity electric powertrain manufacturing plant. The new facility will manufacture five types of hub-mounted motors and controllers for e-two wheelers. The company also plans to upgrade its existing facility that makes frame-mounted motors from the existing 6000 powertrains to 96,000 units per year.

The latest addition to the Indian EV space comes from Bengaluru-based start-up Pravaig Dynamics. The Pravaig Extinction MK1 which is expected to come to the market in 2022 promises a riding range of 504 km on a single charge, making it the longest range EV in the country. The MK1 will be propelled by a 96kWh battery pack which will power a 201 bhp electric motor. This means that the car can go from zero to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds and achieve a top speed of 196 km/h.

Ultraviolette Automative, a Bengaluru-based startup has recently unveiled India’s first high-performance electric superbike, the F77. These bikes are expected to work like IoT devices with the body having a lot of technology in terms of batteries and sensor absorption and an app for the customer which provides ride data. Except for the battery cell, every part of this bike is manufactured in India and it has undergone thermal aerodynamic structural simulations to withstand all of Indian conditions. The app allows the bike to be set to different modes – racetrack, city, or out of station – and also captures data on the laps, leans, usage patterns, and power consumed. These bikes will be available in the market in mid-2021 and are priced between INR 3-3.5 lakhs.