Electric Rush

Electric Rush!

The global automotive industry is gearing up for a paradigm change in technology, a shift that could offer the possibility of zero-emissions driving for a potentially large number of people in the near future. Manufacturers across the world are not only increasing their focus on electric vehicles technology, but are upbeat about its viable commercialisation in the not too distant future.

The need to find alternatives to fossil fuels has led to a plethora of options across the globe. And among the lot, electric vehicles seem to be making the right noises among vehicle makers globally.
Most recently, at the Frankfurt IAA, a majority of the participants showcased the advances they have made in this field. Closer home, in one of the most significant joint ventures in recent times, General Motors India (GMI) joined hands with the largest electric carmaker in the world, the Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car (RECC) to develop electric cars for the Indian market. The other big development is the £10 million loan the Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) has received from the UK Government to further its research on electric vehicles.

Let us look at these independently.

The loan to TMETC has come under the Automotive Assistance Programme (AAP) that the Government had set up at the beginning of the year to support the ailing automotive industry. The company is investing £25 million to build the Tata Indica Vista EV, which will be the first four-seater electric car with a range of up to 200 km to become available this year in Europe. The car eventually would come into India as well, but no dates have been announced yet.

The GMI-RECC agreement too is making a beginning with an existing platform, the Chevrolet Spark. It is a good move for both the companies — in the eight years of its existence, RECC has already made a lot of good name for itself. It now sells its cars in 24 countries and is building a new plant in Bangalore that will start operations next year. For General Motors too, this collaboration has the potential to expedite the process of mass commercialisation of electric cars. The company is launching the extended-range plug-in electric vehicle, Chevrolet Volt, in 2010.

A lot of global car giants too are hedging their bets on EVs. BMW for instance, is investing $1 billion in ‘Project i’, a scheme that will create a line of small cars for urban drivers, including an electric car. VW plans to begin production of the new E-Up! electric compact in 2013, while Daimler is expected to put its first electricity-generating fuel-cell car, the B-Class F-Cell, on the road by the end of this year. Commercial production however, won’t begin until 2015. French carmaker Renault intends becoming the leading electric carmaker in the world, and plans to start mass production of the four electric vehicles it introduced at Frankfurt IAA, in 2012.

Renault’s offensive however, is leaving a lot of experts to question the viability of its plans and expectations. Although EVs and hybrids have all the ingredients of being popular alternatives, it is unlikely they would dominate the auto market anytime soon. Bottlenecks in infrastructure and expensive technological advances would keep EVs out of the reach of masses for many more years, but efforts carmakers are making to make EVs a viable solution, deserve kudos.