Auto Inc seeks higher credits for EVs under CAFE norms

WHILE PASSENGER VEHICLE manufacturers continue to be divided over relaxed emission norms proposed for small cars with Maruti in favour of the relief and Tata Motors, Mahindra, and others opposed to it, they are unitedly seeking higher super credits for electric vehicles other than flex-fuel and hybrid models.

- NITIN KUMAR

The new emission norms -- Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) III -- would come into effect from 2027 and be valid till 2032.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Executive Director, Prashant K Banerjee, in a recent letter to Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal said that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency's (BEE) decision to award nearly similar super credits to battery electric vehicles, flex-fuel models and hybrids dilutes the country's core objective of accelerating the transition to fully electric mobility.

The industry's concern is that by giving transitional technologies like hybrids and flex-fuels, super credits which is too close to that of electric vehicles, the BEE risks slowing down the shift to zero-emission transport.