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QINGDAO TODAY
在线翻译:
szdaily -> World Economy -> 
India’s electric vehicle goals being realized on two wheels, not four
    2019-01-17  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

HURT by high fuel prices, Vinod Gore, a farmer in Gove village in Maharashtra, ditched his petrol scooter for an electric model, underlining how two-wheelers are driving India’s goal of electrification of its vehicles.

Gore’s electric scooter, built by Indian startup Okinawa, runs for about 100-120 kilometers (60-75 miles) on a single charge which costs the sugarcane farmer less than 10 percent of the 150 rupees (US$2.15) he would otherwise have spent on fuel for the same distance.

“I bought it to save money,” said Gore, who paid 75,000 rupees for the scooter and expects to recover the cost in two to three years in terms of savings on petrol and maintenance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has set a target of electric vehicles making up 30 percent of new sales of cars and two-wheelers by 2030 from less than 1 percent today.

But its efforts to convince carmakers to produce electric vehicles have flopped because of no clear policy to incentivize local manufacturing and sales, lack of public charging infrastructure and a high cost of batteries.

Cost-conscious two-wheeler buyers like Gore might be a better bet. It would also open up a new market for global companies like Japan’s Yamaha Motor and Suzuki Motor that are drawing up initial plans to launch electric scooters and motorcycles in the country.

The potential is huge. India is the world’s biggest market for scooters and motorcycles with annual domestic sales exceeding 19 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 — six times that of car sales over the same period.

The next biggest market is China, with annual motorcycle sales of about 17 million in 2017.

Electric scooters make up a fraction of the total but are growing fast. In fiscal 2017-18, sales more than doubled to 54,800 from a year ago while electric car sales fell to 1,200 from 2,000 over the same period, according to data from the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV).

By 2030, sales of electric scooters are expected to cross 2 million a year, even as most carmakers resist bringing electric cars to India.

The roadblocks for scooters are fewer. Compared with cars, scooters are lighter, which means they can use less powerful batteries that are cheaper. The scooters can also be charged quickly and more easily, often using existing plug points in homes, and their price is similar to petrol-powered models. (SD-Agencies)

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