Lithium battery shortage hits supply of electric vehicles

Kolkata: The state is not getting supply of electric vehicles as planned due to scarcity of lithium batteries across the country. KMC mayor and transport department minister Firhad Hakim, during the weekly talk-to-mayor programme, said that the state transport department has placed an order to procure 2,000 electric buses, out of which only 15 to 20 buses were scheduled to be delivered in phases this month.
“We want to use electric vehicles to reduce the use of petrol- and diesel-run vehicles in the city. But we are not getting adequate supply of such vehicles. We now have only about 75 electric vehicles. The KMC has called a tender for procurement of electric vehicles, but we are not getting a proper response or supply,” Hakim said on Saturday.
Apart from the city, the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), which is currently operates three electric buses, has plans to procure three more. The authorities have set up eight EV charging stations across New Town and plans to set up more.
The state is also planning to convert the old tram depots into EV charging stations.