Commercial EVs

Commercial EVs are set to get a shot in the arm with the tweaked FAME II.

- Bhushan Mhapralkar

The In view of the commitment to the Paris pledge to reduce carbon footprint by 33 to 35 per cent from its 2005 levels by 2030, commercial EVs are set to get a shot in the arm by the revised FAME II notification. With stress on proliferation of EVs in shared mobility space (read EVs for commercial use) to curb pollution in cities unlike advanced markets where the pull is towards four-wheel EVs, the tweaked FAME II scheme is set to benefit electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers the most. In these segments – electric two-wheelers especially, it is the vehicles used for commercial activities that are going to experience higher traction. Expressed an industry expert that there is an acute business angle to it in view of the purchasing power of the audience. As of current, electric vehicles, small and big, are considerably costlier than conventional ones even if the gap is narrowing, and the business for which they will be used is likely to charge higher freight or fare, he added. As efforts to reduce pollution in urban centres like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore continue, the revised FAME II scheme is set to encourage a electric growth story that could be much different from that of the other countries. A clue of that is had with the proliferation of electric three-wheelers in Delhi NCR as a last mile transportation medium. There’s not much of electric four-wheel taxis or even electric buses.