THOUGHT LEADERS
Electric Vehicles & Connectivity Driving the Indian Passenger Vehicles Towards Intelligent Mobility
Pratap Singh HARMAN
Kaushik Madhavan Director, Mobility Prac ce (Automo ve & Transporta on) Frost & Sullivan Menasa Kaushik Madhavan’s exper se lies in compe ve intelligence and benchmarking, new market entry and diversifica on strategies, new business model analysis and evalua on and end consumer analysis of automo ve technologies.
The Auto Expo 2018 in New Delhi was characterized by the absence of a few of the biggest brands including the likes of Volkswagen Group, Nissan, Bajaj and Royal Enfield. However, the OEMs who did make it this year made sure that their Electric Vehicle (EVs) offerings and long term roadmap was out there to be seen by everyone. The most eagerly awaited entry was Kia Motors and they certainly did not disappoint. Kia showcased its en re line-up of vehicles introducing the Indian customer to its range of compact hatches, luxurious sedans and SUVs. Kia will launch its first offering in India in 2019. The 2018 edi on of the Auto Expo saw the highest number of EV showcases by OEMs across vehicle segments, including two and three-wheelers apart from passenger and commercial vehicles. The message is very clear – that all mainstream OEMs are ready with their EV models, should the Indian market demand a diverse range of electric mobility offerings.
Passenger Vehicles – EVs on Existing Platforms the Flavor of the Expo “We will wait for the EV charging infrastructure to develop before we bring
our EVs into the Indian market” said the CEO of a leading Japanese manufacturer with a strong presence in India. Although we have seen mixed responses from OEMs when asked about their EV plans for India, all key OEMs took this opportunity to display their EV models in front of the masses. Mahindra and Tata Motors displayed a wide range of electric mobility offerings aimed not only at the private customer, but also fleet operators in the lastmile connec vity business. Although a few OEMs such as Honda showcased EV concepts, the emphasis during this edi on was definitely on models that were closer to their produc on avatars. The excitement and buzz around EVs was evident as more customers were seen enquiring about key performance indicators such as range, ba ery capacity, charging me and price. The manufacturers also made sure that imagery was a rac ve as well. All EVs sported green / blue colored livery a rac ng customers. The 2018 edi on of the Auto Expo has marked the beginning of electric mobility as a mainstream offering. Buyers are more aware now of the various op ons available.
Two & Three-wheelers – Lastmile Connectivity driving Electric Propulsion Adoption The focus on improving last-mile connec vity in India has been on top of the to-do list for successive governments over the past 15 years. In this direc on, the Government has encouraged the development of last-mile connec vity solu ons in collabora on with private operators to make public transport more a rac ve, efficient and viable. The 2018 edi on saw not only established mainstream OEMs such as Mahindra, Greaves and Piaggio but also smaller bespoke manufacturers focusing solely on electric 3-wheeler (3W) offerings such as Lohia and Vikram including Chinese OEMs such as Shigan. Lohia also had a solar powered 3 wheeler rickshaw on display. With the Government emphasizing the need to move toward renewable energy
PG.30 | Smart Automo ve | Mar - Apr 2018
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