Maruti Suzuki India, the local arm of Suzuki Motor Corporation, looks to be aggressively driving an electric vehicle programme.

Speaking at the MOVE Summit in New Delhi today, Osamu Suzuki, chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation, said, “I am pleased to announce today that we will start road-testing 50 EV prototypes from next month in line with local climate and road condition. We have decided to commence production of lithium ion battery in 2020 at our plant in Gujarat. We will also launch an EV in India by 2020 in association with Toyota Motor Corp. EV penetration cannot be done without setting up of charging stations in India. There is also a need to develop hybrid and CNG vehicles besides EVs.”

“We look forward to proactive leadership from the Indian government. There are many people looking to buy their first vehicle. The target for vehicle electrification is 30 percent by 2030, which means a huge population of vehicles will still be non-EVs. In order to realise sustainable mobility, other issues also need to be addressed and we would like to make efforts to resolve all these issues,” said Suzuki.  

Maruti Suzuki confirms EV tests 
According to Maruti Suzuki India, in line with plan to bring EVs in India by 2020, it has commenced nation-wide fleet testing of electric vehicles and aims to gather “critical inputs based on customer perspectives. This extensive real life usage of the vehicles will help in validation and development of new technology.”

The company says these prototype EVs are developed on an existing model by Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan and manufactured at Maruti Suzuki Gurgaon plant in India, exclusively for fleet testing.

Speaking on the initiative, Kenichi Ayukawa, managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India,  said, “Maruti Suzuki is committed to bring an electric vehicle in 2020. The testing in multiple terrains and climatic conditions will help us get valuable insights from real-life driving conditions. With these tests, we are confident that our electric vehicle will be well accepted by our customers.”