Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), would procure 250 electric vehicles from Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India for government entities. The companies were selected through an international competitive bidding process.
Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India won the tender and will supply 150 Nexon electric compact SUVs & 100 Kona electric premium SUVs. The procurement will use $5 million from the recent grant provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to EESL. The financing is to meet the cost of scaling up and financing high priority areas like demand-side energy efficiency sector projects.
EESL will procure Tata Nexon at Rs 14.86 lakh each, Rs 13,000 cheaper than its ex-showroom price of Rs 14.99 lakh whereas, Hyundai Kona, which offers a higher range, will be procured at an 11 per cent lower price band of Rs 21.36 lakh and with a standard three-year warranty, said a statement from the government's flagship energy efficiency company.
These electric vehicles will replace the existing fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles of the Central and State Governments. EESL has received an order for 300 long range EVs from The Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), Kerala to be supplied in the initial phase.
The letter of award for the procurement was presented to the two companies, in the presence of Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD, Tata Motors, Shailesh Chandra, president, passenger vehicle business unit, Tata Motors and Tarun Garg, director – sales, marketing and service, Hyundai Motor India Ltd.
Saurabh Kumar, executive vice-chairperson, EESL, said, “A shift to EVs, facilitated by our e-mobility programme will reduce dependence on oil imports and promote power capacity addition in India. This will greatly enhance the energy security of the country and will also lead to reduction in GHG emissions from the transport sector." He said the company was also working on rapid establishment of EV charging stations, which will give a fillip to the electric vehicle sales, going forward.
According to Seon Seob Kim, managing director and CEO, Hyundai Motor India, the company has been developing eco-friendly and human centric technologies as part of its ‘Progress For Humanity’ vision. "Hyundai will continue to bring world class eco-friendly products and technologies for the Indian market contributing towards the cleaner and greener environment”
This is the second partnership for Tata Motors with EESL in the EV space. The company along with Mahindra & Mahindra in 2017 won the first EESL tender to supply 10,000 units, to be used by senior government officials. However, a number of these vehicles could not be put to use because of low range.
Chandra, however said, “Partnerships such as these are pivotal for building the requisite momentum. We have been partnering with EESL and are pleased to provide more EVs to them for government use, enabling a smooth and sustainable transition to a future-oriented mobility solution. As the leader of the fast growing EV segment, Tata Motors is committed to popularise their access and use across India.”
EESL tender models leverage efficiencies of scale and drive down costs, while supporting local manufacturing facilities. It first tried out LED light procurement through this model and later moved to EVs, solar pumps and smart meters.