SEOUL: South Korea's largest car maker
Hyundai Motor Company's Indian subsidiary has sought "time and clarity" for quicker adoption of electrical vehicles under the shared mobility platforms like
Ola and
Uber.
S S Kim the MD of Hyundai Motor India said the government push towards electrification is a step in the right direction to solve the air pollution issue, however the government needs to give time to prepare for the proper implementation of the same.
"I'm not sure, the Indian government's plan is officially announced or its an unofficial intelligence. Electrification is a step in the right direction, but OEM needs time to prepare for it, (if true) decision appears hasty. More clarity is needed for long term policy framework for right implementation," added Kim
The government of India plans to order taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola to convert 40% of their fleet of cars to electric by April 2026, Reuters had reported earlier in the month.
Hyundai Motor which has committed to bring out 38 cleaner vehicle solutions including hybrids, electric and fuel cell vehicles globally will be launching the new Kona EV next month in India. Post it's infusion of $300 million in Ola, the company is also considering a mass market solution with Indian shared mobility provider in the times to come.
Kim is non-committal on the EV being developed for Ola, but said there are various projects under consideration.
On its part, Hyundai will be locally assembling the Kona EV at its plant in Chennai and it will be offer a charging unit to the customer along with the sale of vehicle.
Kim said Hyundai will be looking at selling just a few hundred units of Kona in the first year of its sale, given the fact that electrification ecosystem is yet to evolve in the country.
While Hyundai will be importing it's first EV in a knocked down form, it's closest rival Maruti Suzuki has already started working on localisation of batteries.
Kim says at the current volumes, the localisation of battery does not justify and Hyundai may look at local manufacturing of battery, if it sees a volume potential of "50,000 units" per annum in the future.
While the company had decided to drop the mild hybrid plan in past, Kim said the company may look at a 48 volt hybrid solution for its future models, however ruled out pure hybrids due to lack of incentive from the government.
(The correspondent is in Seoul, South Korea on an invitation from Hyundai Motor India)