India to procure 10,000 electric vehicles for government institutions
India’s government department for energy efficiency has revealed that the country will issue a tender for the procurement of 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) to replace traditional diesel, petrol and gas-fuelled vehicles across government institutions.
India’s government department for energy efficiency has revealed that the country will issue a tender for the procurement of 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) to replace traditional diesel, petrol and gas-fuelled vehicles across government institutions.
Last year, Energy Efficiency Savings Limited (EESL) launched the world’s largest public procurement tender for electric vehicles, when it issued the first call for 10,000 electric vehicles to be used by the Government.
The tender was awarded to Tata Motors, one of the largest car manufacturers in India, which partnered with Mahindra & Mahindra to deliver the cars in phases over the next 3 to 4 years.
The companies will deliver the first batch of 350 and 150 cars respectively by the end of this year.
Mahindra & Mahindra is currently the only Indian car manufacturer to have two electric models in its fleet, namely the e-verito and the e2o Plus. The company delivered the first e-Verito to EESL in a ceremony last week; a model which uses a 20.5 kWh electric motor and has a driving range of up to 180 kilometres on a single charge.
Saurabh Kuma, Managing Director of EESL told the media that the new tender of another 10,000 EVs will be launched in March 2018, as part of an aggressive target set by the Indian government to halt cars powered by fossil fuels by 2030.
Clean Technica reports that Indian governmental agencies currently use a total of 500,000 vehcilesacross the country, and that further progress needs to be achieved to upgrade the fleet
In tandem with the procurement of electric cars, EESL will soon issue multiple tenders for charging infrastructure too.
The Indian government recently released a draft proposal to develop electric vehicles charging corridor across New Delhi with 46 DC fast-charging and 89 AC slow-charging stations.
This constitutes one of the numerous proposed pilot projects to serve as the foundation for larger charging stations deployment, as many private companies have expressed interest in supporting India’s electric vehicles plans.
AAB India, the Indian subsidiary of the multinational electric equipment giant has already replied to a bid from the Government for the construction of 4,500 charging stations across India.
