Ajanta Group to Make EV to Compete with Tata Nano
14 April 2008
Times of India. Ajanta Group, the India-based clock-maker, plans to manufacture a small electric car and sell it at a price lower than that of the $2,550 (Rs 1 lakh) Tata Nano (earlier post.)
Ajanta group director Jaysukh Patel told TOI: “The company is already manufacturing electric scooters and bikes under ‘Oreva’ brand. Production of electric car is not difficult for us as the technology is almost similar and 70 per cent of its parts can be produced in-house, giving us an edge over the vehicle’s pricing.”
The R&D team was exploring the viability of the small car project under the conditions in India, he said. Sources said the company has imported eight electric cars of different brands, and they were being tested and studied by the technical staff for necessary modification under Indian conditions.
Currently, the only electric car available in India is the Rev. According to the Times, another entrant in the low-cost electric car market may come from the Rajkot-based Field Marshal group, which is in negotiations with Australia-based Farnow Technologies for a joint venture.
According to this website there are two EVs available in India: the REVA and the Bavina. See http://www.evfuture.com/products/electric_cars/
This new EV will probably also be a small two seat car with lead acid batteries. It is interesting to see that these Indian EVs can do up to 55-65 km/h. That should make them useful in megacities such as Delhi and London where the average speed is below 20 mph (about 32 kmh) anyway. And now they seem to be cost competitive with ICE especially after taxes and fuel cost. Hopefully these low-speed EVs will sell well. That would trigger the entrance of the more established vehicle produces into this market as well. This is important because it could create a positive spiral of developments that enable further price reductions and quality improvements for EVs and EV components.
Posted by: Henrik | 14 April 2008 at 02:52 AM
Both India and China could use EVs for city travel. It would clean the air and reduce demand for oil.
Posted by: sjc | 14 April 2008 at 09:10 AM
Very important development. It is about time that somebody comes up with common sense replacement for our rediculous 3-Ton gas guzzlers, specially for inner-city travels.
China and India (+ many other countries with large polluted cities) could use 1 to 2 billions much smaller, much cheaper, 60 Kmh EVs. It makes so much common sense that it is bound to succeed. (Would also be extremely useful in Africa + most poor countries - with a PV panel to recharge the batteries).
Will we find 1001 ways to block their importation, from China and India, to protect our Big Three, Auto-Workers Unions and Oil industries?
Since more and more pople live in large cities (area), WalMart could certainly sell millions per year. What an ideal vehicle to drive down town, go shopping, take the kid(s) to school, for older kids to drive to school/work etc. Every USA residence could have 2 or 3.
Posted by: Harvey D | 14 April 2008 at 09:38 AM
You need a reasonable electric grid to run a lot of cars like these. Most places in India are creaking and might not welcome 1 Million EVs.
Using PV to charge them will be a problem unless you use them very little or have 2 batteries:
If you had 2 batteries, you could charge 1 while using the other during the day.
Also, PV is expensive if your car costs $2.5K.
But BEVs should do well in countries which have not yet got addicted to huge cars and have enough excess power to charge them.
As a city dweller, I would hope they would become common in my city (Dublin), but I feel I will be waiting (even stop/start would do).
Posted by: mahonj | 14 April 2008 at 10:21 AM
the nano is pretty light. adapting it with a battery electric powertrain should be pretty simple and i likely already on the drawing board at Tata.
Posted by: | 14 April 2008 at 01:22 PM
The power grid in large Indian cities would surely be unable to handle large-scale adoption of EVs in the short-term. But an adoption rate of up to 2-5% in metro India would surely be feasible and would still be a large enough a market to make it worth while for Ajanta.
Even limited adoption in India could be a very positive sign for the development of mass-marketable EVs and supporting technology. The pace at which Indian industry is growing is impressive, and their ability to innovate will surely continue to increase.
I'm still waiting for efficient and cost-effective PV panels to come along and make very small EVs practical in the sunnier parts of our world. Most South Asian drivers spend a lot less time in cars than North Americans, and it sure seems that a cheapish PV panel could supply much of the needed power for personal transport.
Posted by: Justin VP | 14 April 2008 at 03:17 PM
India may allow only as many EVs as they can handle. Then they would say that they need more electricity and then they might pick renewable energy. One thing leads to anther. The developing world does not have to take the same path we did.
Posted by: sjc | 15 April 2008 at 07:45 AM
Justin VP
I fully agree with you. Much cheaper PV panel must be mass produced to support very low cost EVs, specially for poorer countries. Something like 50 cents/watt and even less should be within reach in 4 to 5 years. If we can't make them that cheap, maybe they can.
We should help them to setup thousands of small PV panel factories; where it would be most useful, i.e. in sunny hot poorer countries. Electric power is a great development tool. Sun power is free and sustainable. It is ideal for so many places.
They could refund the initial investment with mass produced lower PV panels that we could also use. Everybody would gain.
Posted by: Harvey D | 15 April 2008 at 12:37 PM
for dealership only
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Posted by: Amitabh kumar | 19 October 2008 at 11:07 AM