Bounce Infinity E1 scooter pricing, battery-swapping strategy may be a hit

Just a few months ago, Bounce Infinity had said it was introducing its electric scooter E1 and when it revealed the E1’s pricing and battery-swapping plans, it sent shock waves across the industry! 

It not only cleverly priced its scooter at Rs 45,000 (without battery) but Bounce also adopted a very innovative battery-swapping strategy. It has allowed a customer to buy the E1 without the battery but permitting battery-as-a-service option by using the company’s swapping infrastructure, which comes dirt cheap.

Faraday Future EV FF91 price may be above $170,000

Faraday Future (FF), an electric vehicle maker in California, unveiled its first production-intent FF91 ultra-luxury EV but its price could be way above $150,000. A cursory look and you can immediately come to the conclusion that this is the ultimate in luxury!

In the next stage, the EV company is set to line up plans to begin full-fledged production in Q3 of this year. 

Will global EV sales rise 10 fold after five years?

Just the other day, there was news that sales of electric vehicles (EVs) more than doubled in the year 2021 globally compared to the previous year, and at this rate, when will sales explode 10 fold? 

Over 6.5 million electric vehicles — that include fully electric as well as plug-in hybrid cars — were sold globally in 2021. This is a surge of 109 per cent over 2020. 

Ashok Leyland to make EVs in India, wants to be in top-10 CV players’ league globally

India’s commercial vehicles (CV) segment is gearing up for green mobility with Hinduja Group company Ashok Leyland contemplating setting up a factory in the country to make electric vehicles (EVs) with an eye to be among the top-10 CV players in the world. 

The Chennai-based manufacturer of commercial vehicles has also set aside around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) to develop powertrains based on alternative fuels like electric, CNG and hydrogen.

Will Renault’s hydrogen car finally evolve into an EV?

Renault could be planning to queue up in the Indian electric vehicle (EV) market to roll out e-cars, but the French auto giant is currently working on a hydrogen-powered concept car that it plans to roll out in May this year but will it finally evolve into an EV?

The car maker, which wants to go fully electric by 2030, has made its maiden attempt to launch concept hydrogen cars and this is in line with its efforts to reduce carbon emission.

Mahindra hopes to catch up with Tata Motors in EV race

With Tata Motors clearly leading the electric vehicle (EV) race in India, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is playing catch-up with the latter planning to roll out a range of electric vehicles soon.

Mahindra has just released a teaser video to showcase its upcoming electric SUV fleet. The video shows three electric vehicle models that are likely to be a part of Mahindra’s Born Electric Vision, its EV project. The video was shared by Mahindra on its official YouTube channel.

Is Tata Motors planning a Nano electric car?

Just the other day, we all saw Ratan Tata in his favourite Nano once again, but this time, it was not the fuel-based variant but rather the electric vehicle (EV) version of once India’s cheapest car that has long gone into oblivion.    

The electric version of the Tata Nano is a four-seater car that was gifted by Tata Motors to its former chairman. 

Jaguar’s new EV platform will improve quality of cars

Tata Motors-owned British luxury car brand Jaguar is looking to create a new platform (separate from Tata Motors), from where all its electric cars will be rolled out and this may have an impact on quality.

 

Named Panthera, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is moving fast on this platform and is targeting to roll out its electric vehicles (EVs) from here.

EV manufacturing in India will give Audi price advantage

Audi is believed to be revving up to set up a manufacturing plant for electric vehicles (EVs) in India so as to get an advantage over its rival on the pricing front. 

As a result, sales may literally skyrocket and Audi could easily overtake its counterparts — Mercedes Benz, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) — to become the country’s top luxury car maker.

Ola’s four-wheeler concept EV looks like Nissan Leaf

After an iconic e-scooter factory, Ola Electric’s plan to get into e-cars could see the first roll out of a four-wheeler within a year. Now, there is word that Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola promoter, is searching for land for its four-wheeler factory.

Aggarwal is moving at jet speed. The buzz in the industry is that a few concept car designs for the four-wheeler are almost ready.  

China hurdle is Tesla’s biggest entry barrier into India

Lately, Tesla has been trying to make a foray into India but has been seeing several entry barriers like its presence in China. Latest among them is Elon Musk’s company’s call for a tax cut being turned down by the Indian government. 

The government has said that norms already allow auto firms to bring in partially-built vehicles. They can then assemble them locally at a lower cost.

UK in fast lane to meet EV transition deadline

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution has been gathering momentum in the United Kingdom (UK) and it has set a transition deadline for this. The country had set itself a target for banning all non-electric cars, including petrol, diesel and even hybrids, from 2035.

This is part of the UK’s efforts to minimise the damage from climate change, which is slowly and surely becoming devastating.  

Budget’s infra boost may give EVs the cutting edge over ICE vehicles

The Union Budget has paved the way for boosting electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure in a big way. Main among them will be ramping up the EV charging stations to minimise the inconvenience caused to EV owners while on the move. So, if this is implemented in the near term (that is in three years), we may see EV charging stations coming up in every nook and corner of the country. 

This may prompt prospective car buyers to migrate to EVs from internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Moreover, carmakers may also launch many more EV models compared to ICE ones in order to deter buyers from buying the latter. 

EVs have maintenance advantage, even infrastructure is picking up

So, if you buy an electric vehicle (EV) in 2022, you will have an advantage while maintaining your car compared to petrol or diesel vehicles as e-car infrastructure is getting a boost. 

 

The average internal combustion engine (ICE) cars usually have a fuel efficiency of around 40 per cent. The remaining 60 per cent is lost via heat and friction. Owing to this, ICE cars consume a substantial amount of energy. Compared to this, EVs are a big energy saver while traveling the same distance. And, a big cost saver too.