Four solar based EV charging projects funded under FAME scheme
Proposals by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments, Jaipur to set up solar-based EV charging infrastructure have received funding under the government’s FAME India scheme. These projects will come up at Delhi NCR, Udyog Bhwan, and Delhi-Jaipur-Delhi, Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai as well as Delhi-Chandigarh-Delhi highways.
Battery maker CATL ramps up investment in German gigafab to €1.8 billion
Previously, a mere €240 million (Rs1,870 crore) was set to flow into the giga-factory. The corporation’s management reasoned new demand for its battery cells made more investment necessary.
Thinktank gives manufacturers two weeks for EV adaptation blueprint
Central government has thrown down the gauntlet to the nation’s largest motorbike and scooter manufacturers after they resisted a proposal to ban non-electric sales from 2025 onwards.
Akasol plans to build new battery factory near Detroit
The German battery manufacturer will make products for electric trucks and buses at the facility, which is expected to employ 200 workers and produce 400 megawatt-hours of batteries annually.
Electrifying the current taxi fleet would help India cut emissions faster: Wood Mackenzie
Though electric vehicles are up to 67% less emissions intensive than gasoline cars, their competitiveness depends on many factors like the source of electricity used for vehicle and battery manufacturing and charging. Given that India still has a high share of coal or other fossil fuels in its power mix, electrifying the current car taxi fleet would help it cut emissions faster than incentivising the use of privately owned EVs because of the taxis’ greater utilisation in terms of miles travelled.
India and Australia could strike first lithium deal
Mining company Neometals and Manikaran Power have started a jointly funded study into the feasibility of establishing India’s first lithium refinery, which would process ore from the Mount Marion mine in Western Australia.
Government thinktank proposes ban on diesel and petrol driven vehicles
The NITI Aayog has suggested banning sales of non-electric two and three wheelers in 2025 and cars, trucks and buses five years later as well as forcing public fleets and the cars used by ride hailing apps to be electric.
Another bidding extension for IGL’s solar-plus-battery tender
Bidders can now lodge their interest until July 1 and are required to submit any amendments, signed and stamped, along with the bid.
Europe announces plans for battery gigafactories
In news that will add urgency to Indian government efforts to establish a domestic storage industry, funding has apparently been secured for 16 GWh-plus production lines in Sweden and Germany. Is India at risk of being left in the starting blocks?
Plug-in hybrid cars have no longevity – stick to pure electric
A report on the prospects for a mooted $2.6tn electric vehicle market over the next decade says PHEVs – part electric, part gas-guzzling – are already losing market share rapidly to pure electric rivals, and will be extinct by 2030.
