Ola, Mahindra Partner to Pilot 200 Electric Vehicles in Nagpur; 100 Mahindra e2Os to be Flagged off!
The Government of India has plans to replace all commercial vehicles in India with electric cars. Even though the dream is far from reality in 2017, Ola has taken the first step towards a cleaner and greener environment.
After about two months of discussions and work, Ola has partnered with Mahindra, automobile manufacturer, to launch the Mass Electric Transport system in India, starting with Nagpur in Maharashtra.
The two companies have tied up with the Government of India to offer 200 electric vehicles on the road as a pilot in Nagpur, with a hundred of these being Mahindra’s own two-seater electric car, e2O. The other hundred vehicles will be Kinetic’s e-rickshaws across the city. Mahindra will also roll out more e-rickshaws, e-cabs and even e-buses in the future.
This project was inaugurated by Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping at the Nagpur Airport Complex on May 26.
Talking about this initiative, Devendra Fadnavis said, “We are extremely proud of the commitment corporations like Ola, Mahindra and others are working towards building sustainable transportation for all. In support of this initiative, we have waived off VAT, road tax, and registration for all electric vehicles in the state, and we look forward to building Maharashtra as a model state for others to emulate in the future.”
Mahindra is not the only car manufacturer to offer these vehicles, in fact, Tata Motors, TVS and Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD will also be offering their products to Ola as a part of Phase 2 expansion in the city and the country.
To keep these electric vehicles going, Ola is also investing Rs. 50 crore in developing the required infrastructure. More than 50 charging points will be developed across four different locations around Nagpur so that the drivers also don’t run out of charge at the wrong time. One of the charging locations is within the Nagpur airport itself.
We hope that this technology gets launched in other cities soon, and not just across Maharashtra but other large states that require the shift of automobiles from petroleum-derived fuel to electric energy.
The Government also supported this move by saying that they plan to phase out all petrol/diesel vehicles on the road by 2030, however, there need to be some incentives as well so that the companies and customers get interested.
Source: NDTV
