KOCHI: Taking the lead in bringing about an electric vehicle revolution, the Kerala government on Saturday announced a slew of initiatives, including tie-up with Swiss electric bus maker Hess AG to assemble and manufacture electric buses, agreements with public sector NTPC and two other companies for setting up electric charging infrastructure and pilot e-mobility zones in tourist spots, Secretariat and IT parks.
The announcements were made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his inaugural speech at ‘Evolve’, the two-day E-mobility Expo 2019 here. Pinarayi also announced three cities in Kerala will soon have Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) integrating various modes of transport as in London and Singapore. “A legislation in this regard is under consideration in this session of the Assembly,” he said. He said the state government has approved the final electric vehicle (EV) policy, which has set an ambitious target of 10 lakh EVs on the road by 2022.
A pilot fleet of two lakh two-wheelers, 50,000 three-wheelers, 1,000 goods carriers, 3,000 buses and 100 ferry boats are planned as part of EV adoption. “This calls for huge investments as well as adoption of the best technologies suitable for the state and joint working of all stakeholders in a timebound manner,” the Chief Minister said. Stating that the state government has been taking pioneering steps in bringing an EV regime, he said the state-run Kerala Automobile Ltd (KAL) has started making e-autorickshaws which are certified by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). KAL has become the first PSU in India to manufacture electric autorickshaws, Pinarayi said. KAL will produce around 8,000 autorickshaws every year. It has also tied-up with Hess AG to assemble and later manufacture electric buses here. “This might be the first European investment in e-bus manufacturing in India,” he said, adding that with this investment the state expects to attract more ancillary industries to Kochi.
The state government also signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with regard to charging infrastructure with public sector companies NTPC, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), Sun Mobility, etc. and for hydrogen cell pilot with Boston-based Spotimyenergy. “We have already started taking e-bus on wet lease, e-vehicles from EESL for department use, providing free, fast charging following all three accepted standards to all government vehicles in the Secretariat,” he said. Pinarayi said similar facilities are being provided to all Metro stations and Kochi International Airport which is the first airport in the world to be run fully on solar power.
He said KSRTC has already called for bids for taking 1,500 e-buses on wet lease this year. Within one year, Thiruvananthapuram city will become 100 per cent e-mobile as far as public transport is concerned. ‘ A delegation from the UK’s Birmingham University was present at the conference.
“The UK could achieve 43 per cent reduction on CO2 emissions from 1990 and is on track for 80 per cent reduction by 2050,” he pointed out, adding that cooperation in setting up a centre for excellence and skill development in low-emission technologies, especially e-mobility and fuel cell research, was welcome.