Rajiv Bajaj calls 100% sales mandate for e-2Ws, 3Ws ‘impractical’

Rajiv Bajaj: “An appropriate middle path would be, in the first phase, to target such a changeover through CAFÉ norms / EVs for all vehicle categories from  2023 or 2025, starting with the most polluted cities of India.”

The government of India’s ambitious move for mass vehicle electrification in the country, which has seen industry bodies SIAM and CII call for a rethink and a phased programme after consultation with industry stakeholders, now gets a hard-hitting comment from Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto.

As is known, the government of India’s EV programme, which aims to have a large portion of the country’s vehicle parc powered by lithium-ion batteries by 2030, is looking to make an impact and gain traction in the market by focusing on and starting with what are recognised as the low-hanging fruit – two- and three-wheelers.  

On June 4, Autocar Professional had reported that in a recent meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee of the National Mission for Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage, the high-level panel is looking to mandate sales of only electric three-wheelers from April 1, 2023 and April 1, 2025 for electric two-wheelers (below 150cc).

Commenting on the reported initiative of the government of India mandating 100 percent EVs for sale of three-wheelers by 2023 and two-wheelers by 2025, Rajiv Bajaj says, “I completely agree with the spirit of this initiative in that India must demonstrate a pioneer rather than laggard mindset. However, I have three execution-related concerns.

“First that it may be impractical to target such a scale when none of the stakeholders currently possess any meaningful experience with any of the pieces of the EV puzzle. Secondly that it is ill-timed to target a date so close to BS VI implementation. And finally, to target two- and three-wheelers but not cars etc makes it an incomplete initiative.

“An appropriate middle path to my mind would be in the first phase to target such a changeover through Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFÉ) norms / electric vehicles for all vehicle categories from a particular date such as 2023 or 2025, starting with the most polluted cities of India. Basis the learnings from that experience, a collective plan can be put together to scale up as desired.”

“An appropriate middle path to my mind would be in the first phase to target such a changeover through Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFÉ) norms / electric vehicles for all vehicle categories from a particular date such as 2023 or 2025, starting with the most polluted cities of India. Basis the learnings from that experience, a collective plan can be put together to scale up as desired.”

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