“INCENTIVES FOR LOCALIZATION & EASY FINANCING WILL DRIVE EV ADOPTION”

Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric Vehicles tells PCQuest what kind of government impetus, policy intervention, innovation, and localization are needed to foster the manufacturing and adoption of EVs in India

- Soma Tah 

As a leading player in the E2W space, what kind of opportunities and roadblocks do you see for the EV uptake in India? Do you have any suggestion, which could make the adoption better?

Given the plans of the government for a majority of mobility to be electric mobility in the country by 2030, both the public and the private sector need to come together to make a robust infrastructure so that we can see substantial adoption of EVs in the country.

However, there are certain areas where we need swift and major improvements. Two of them are the properly executed charging infrastructure, and rebates for Indian manufacturers matching the localization levels. While a lot has been initiated and actioned in this regard by the government via FAME II and the recently announced Delhi’s EV policy there is a caveat which leaves the low-speed segment from availing such benefits. Since they are the drivers of the whole EV segment and make up more than 90% of the total sales, such benefits will help foster our electrification of mobility goals further.

Another heartening thing is that ever since the lockdowns, the awareness level in the people with respect to clean and emission-free mobility has certainly increased a lot. We have seen a growing interest among customers who are very interested in understanding the benefits, ease, and convenience of electric vehicles since then, and I feel that is a big boost of morale for the entire EV industry. I am certain this trend will continue even after the lockdown and we are expecting a great run towards the late 2020 and early 2021 and on an upward trajectory from there on as social distancing will continue to be a priority.