Govt officials refuse to use EVs made by Mahindra & Tata

Senior government officials have refused to use electric vehicles (EV) supplied by Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors. A media report suggests that officials haven't been happy with the car's overall performance and range.

In response to a tender floated by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL), the carmakers have supplied electric versions of the Mahindra Verito and Tata Tigor. The Mahindra eVerito uses a 200 Ah battery which has a claimed range of 110 km, while the Tigor EV has a 216 Ah battery pack offering 130 km of maximum range. Apparently, both cars run for less than 80-82 km on a single charge when driven within the city, indicating that battery capacity may not be up to the mark compared to global standards.

In the first phase, Tata and Mahindra were supposed to supply a total of 450 EVs. In reality, only 150 units are said to be on the roads in Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, which suggests that there has been a delay in the procurement of these vehicles. It has also been reported that the second tender of 10,000 units has been postponed to 2019 citing the lack of charging infrastructure. Reports also suggest that unavailability of quality products in the EV market is likely to be the reason behind the postponement of the third tender, which has also been pushed to 2019.

Meanwhile, EESL plans to deploy 200-250 EVs by mid-July 2018. The public sector unit has said that conditions of the second tender are currently being re-evaluated and will be released soon.

Source: Livemint