There is little doubt today that electric vehicles are the next big frontier of transport and mobility worldwide. In the backdrop of an increased focus on environmental and pollution concerns as well as superior operating economics especially in commercial applications, EVs have truly emerged as the most sustainable path towards decarbonizing transport and mobility globally, with users, communities, policymakers and companies backing the increased adoption of zero-emission EVs across numerous sectors and use-cases. Today, almost all the countries that have the highest levels of penetration of electric mobility (such as Norway, China, France, Netherlands and others) have been able to achieve this based on major contributions from native policies, innovative EV applications, as well as creating a robust ecosystem around EV applications. India, with one of the world’s largest automotive markets, has a great opportunity to be among the leaders not only in driving adoption but also in creating a world-class manufacturing ecosystem backed by sound long-term policies. India’s EV story is being led by commercial EVs, especially in the last mile in the commercial cargo logistics space. Besides the well-documented benefits of electrification for cleaner air and for improving the environment at large, EVs are now able to offer not only superior operating economics than IC Engine based vehicles but also deliver lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). EV transition at scale in India is bound to give a major boost to our domestic economy and manufacturing ecosystem in the years to come and has the potential to generate huge employment. Furthermore, superior operating economics of commercial EVs will reduce the cost of logistics in India, which will increase the competitiveness of India in the global manufacturing context. The nation’s apex policymaking body, Niti Aayog, has already set an ambitious vision of EV penetration of at least 30% in the passenger car segment, 70% in commercial vehicles, 40% in buses and 80% for two and three-wheelers by 2030. Furthermore, India’s Road Transport Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari has vowed to soon bring down the cost of the acquisition of EVs in India at par with petrol and diesel-based counterparts. Then to add to that, there are supportive Central Policies like FAME (Faster Adoption of Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India) and various state-specific policies – all working in tandem to help EVs in India to sustain, thrive and increase in terms of popularity and adoption. Etrio believes that for India to truly make a mark in the global e-mobility market as an “e-mobility superpower”, it is not enough that India captures a key share of global EV manufacturing but India should also invest in creating a robust and thriving domestic e-mobility market. In addition to the policy push, investments in EV infrastructure, development of diverse use cases for EV deployment and creation of a viable ecosystem. To realize the fullest potential of EVs in the country’s commercial segment, innovative EV OEMs such as Etrio are playing a pivotal role by taking a data-driven approach towards designing ground-up vehicles and enabling more use cases for EV deployment. Etrio’s e-3W and e-4W products are specifically designed and optimized to address the last-mile use cases of its customers in e-commerce (last-mile delivery) delivery, intra-city logistics, agri-logistics, waste collection, pharma cold chain logistics, gas cylinder delivery and other emerging application areas. Notably, Etrio is India’s first EV company to retrofit commercial vehicles (LCVs) for intra-city logistics, as well as the first in India to launch FAME-certified ground-up L5 e-3Ws. Etrio believes in utilizing technology to the fullest to deliver customer experience not only in helping a traditional ICE vehicle driver to transition to EV but also in ensuring that today’s fleet managers can replace ICE vehicles with EVs with limited disruption and improved safety. Going forward, they will continue to understand the customers’ needs deeply and will deploy the latest EV technologies through its upcoming and existing range of vehicles in order to help our customers both, in using EVs in more and more routes, as well as in seamless transition from ICE vehicles to EVs. With a comprehensive approach from building reliable and intelligent products and reducing the total cost of ownership to ensuring a delightful customer experience, Etrio has already established a strong portfolio of customers and clients countrywide, while also working along with 30+ global companies. They are now in the process of acquiring new customers and are projecting 10x growth in the next few fiscal years. From continuously experimenting with new use cases across several domains/sectors for its EV-fleets to serving the transport and logistics requirements for both intercity and intracity mobility, Etrio is working and innovating across both ends of the spectrum, i.e. creating a viable ecosystem and diverse use cases for EV usage, and thereby delivering on each and every front when it comes to enabling India’s EV-led transformation story.

Source: The Times of India

Published On: January 10, 2023