EESL To Buy 1,000 EVs, Will it be Hyundai Kona Electric, Nexon EV and MG ZS EV This Time?

by Yatharth Singh Chauhan | 17/02/2020
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Nearly two years after passing first such tender, the EESL has issued another tender to buy 1,000 EVs, but it remains to be seen if Hyundai Kona, MG ZS EV and Nexon EV would participate

After issuing its first tender to procure electric cars in 2017, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has issued a fresh tender to acquire 1,000 EVs with a driving range of at least 180 km. So far, EESL has received 1,500 electric compact sedans from Mahindra and Tata. The two manufacturers will soon deliver the rest of the 500 Tigor and Verito EVs to the Government-run body.

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EESL was initially expected to procure as much as 10,000 electric cars for deployment at various government agencies. It had aggregated demand from the central government as well as various state governments, with a majority of demand coming from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. However, following a change in government, demand from the state is no longer available. EESL has thus moved on to private companies for deployment of electric cars.

The fresh batch of 1,000 cars that will be acquired through the latest tender will be used by fleet operators and cab aggregators. The decision to buy the EVs comes at a time when electric-powered options in the car market aren't limited to just the Verito and Tigor EVs. The last few months have seen an influx of highly likeable electric cars in the form of the Kona Electric, Nexon EV and MG ZS EV. That said, it's not known whether Hyundai and MG would participate in the bidding process. It's noteworthy here that the car companies wishing to participate in the bidding process will have to offer a six years warranty and additional six years of service support on its model. 

In March last year, it was reported that Government departments using the electric Tata Tigor and Mahindra Verito models were highly dissatisfied by the range offered by the two vehicles. As per some unconfirmed sources, the EVs procurred by EESL would not run for any more than 85 km, while the companies had claimed a driving range of 130 km. Due to this, the users were worried about using the vehicle for even the slightly longer journeys. 

Government To Buy 1,000 EVs, Will it be Hyundai Kona Electric, Nexon EV and MG ZS EV This Time?

The India-spec Hyundai Kona has an ARAI-tested driving range of 452 km

On the other hand, a Tata spokesperson had said that the Tigor EV had a tested range of 142 km as per ARAI. This time around, however, EESL is clearly playing it safe by setting a minimum limit of 180 km for the driving range of the next batch of electric cars it plans to acquire.  

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