KOCHI: In an initiative that will help reduce Chennai’s air pollution drastically, M Auto will be launching 100 electric autos in the city by October 31. They plan to launch 4,000 autos in Chennai by the end of this year, all driven by women.
Since manufacturing 4,000 autos will also adversely affect the environment, M Auto has decided to remodel the two-stroke engine banned autos into electric ones.
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K Palaniswami recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with M Auto in Dubai, stating that the government will provide all the support in terms of charging stations, manufacturing units and more. M Auto is the first company to receive a licence for such operations from the government.
Green initiative
Each auto produces about four tonnes of carbon emissions per year. With more than one lakh autos in Chennai alone, the electric autos will decrease as much as 16,000 tonnes of carbon emission once all the
autos are launched, claim the officials at M Auto.
“All autos have a panic button, seat belt for the driver and CCTV camera. The reliability is the same as a petrol auto. It accommodates three persons and a driver, maximum speed is 70 km per hour and runs 100 km for a charge of four hours,” said Yasmeen Jawahar Ali, M Auto Group CEO.
Talking about the number of charging stations in the city, Yasmeen said that they plan to install 100 charging points in ten zones of Chennai before October. Just like a smartphone, you can plug in the vehicle and have it ready within hours. “In each zone, three charging points will have swapping technology where drivers can swap their battery with an already-charged one,” she said.
Fare reduction
Along with reducing carbon emissions, electric vehicles can also help bring down the fares, and the operating cost is comparatively lower than petrol autos.
“To drive an auto for 100 km, fuel costs go up to `400 per day. Whereas, an electric auto needs to spend only `40 for the same distance,” explained Yasmeen. Eventually, fares will also be reduced.
Women empowerment
The officials of M Auto say the innovation will provide employment opportunities to 10,000 people. Half of them are drivers, who are all female, and the rest would be technicians, both men and women.
“We have been working towards two causes for years now — environmental protection and women empowerment. This is a major leap for both,” she said.