THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The introduction of the industry-first electric vehicle (EV) module in the advanced diploma in automotive mechatronics (ADAM) course at Government Engineering College, Barton Hill (GECBH) was aimed at making students ‘future-ready’ and for spawning an ecosystem for EVs in the state, Mercedes-Benz India managing director and chief executive officer Santosh Iyer has said.
Iyer was speaking on the sidelines of an event in which Mercedes-Benz India and GECBH celebrated 10 years of the ADAM course, launched jointly by them.
Commenting on the EV segment in the country, he admitted that the full-fledged transition was not easy. “It’s an ongoing marathon and we can’t complete the race overnight. We, as responsible manufacturers, need to push the agenda and make customers adopt because they are the core stakeholders,” he said.
Iyer said the charging ecosystem needs to be strengthened and prices should be cheaper. Achieving these objectives would require considerable time. He said 10% of Mercedes-Benz cars sold in Kerala are EVs because of customer awareness.
Besides, Kerala has independent houses which makes charging easy, he added.On the ADAM course, Iyer said he was happy that 215 students were guided successfully over the past 10 years. “They are all employed not only in Kerala but also in different parts of the globe,” he added.